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♦UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.} 



SWEDENBORG 



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ON 



THE ATHANASI AN CREED 



AND 



SUBJECTS CONNECTED WITH IT. 



BEING A TRANSLATION OF THE " DE FIDE ATHANASIANA, 

Appended in separate sections to parts of his Posthumous "Work entitled 

Apocalypsis Explicata secundum spirituaeem sensum, tjbi revelantitb Arcana 

qvje ibi priedicta et hactentts ignota fuerunt.'" 

Londini, 17S9. 




NEW YORK: 

PUBLISHED BY THE GENERAL CONVENTION 

OF TUB 

NEW JERUSALEM IX THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 

AT ITS PUBLISHING HOUSE: 
20 Cooper Union. 

1867. 






Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1866, by 

ROBERT L. SMITH, 

Treasurer of the General Convention of the New Jerusalem in the United 

States of America, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern 

District of New York. 



The New York Printing Company, 

81, 83, and 85 Ce7itre Street, 

New York. 



© 



THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 



1. "WHOSOEVER will be saved it is altogether 
necessary for him to keep the catholic faith / which 
faith unless every one shall keep whole and entire with- 
out doubt, he shall perish everlastingly. The catholic 
faith is this, that we worship one God in Trinity, and 
Trinity in Unity / neither commixing the persons, nor 
separating the substance (essence). Since there is one 
person of the Father, another of the Son, and another 
of the Holy Spirit : but the Divinity of the Father, of 
the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, is one and the same, 
the glory equal, and the majesty co-eternal. Such as the 
Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Spirit. 
The Father is uncreate, the Son is uncreate, and the 
Holy Spirit is uncreate. The Father is infinite, the 
Son infinite, and the Holy Spirit infinite. The Father 
eternal, the Son eternal, and the Holy Spirit eternal : 
And yet there are not three eternals, but one eternal ; 
and there are not three infinites, nor three uncreate, but 
one uncreate and one infinite. In like manner as the 
Father is omnipotent, so the Son is omnipotent, and the 
Holy Spirit is omnipotent : and yet there are not three 
omnipotents, but one omnipotent. As the Father is 



4 THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 

God, so the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God, 
and yet there are not three Gods, out one God. Although 
the Father is Lord, the Son is Lord, and the Holy Spirit 
is Lord, still there are not three Lords, hut one Lord : 
For as we are obliged by the Christian verity, to ac- 
knowledge every person by himself to be God and Lord, 
yet are we forbidden by the catholic religion to say there 
are three Gods or three Lords (according to others, we 
cannot, from the Christian faith, make mention of three 
Gods or three Lords). The Father was made of none, 
neither created nor born. The Son is of the Father 
alone, not made nor created, but born : The Holy Spirit 
is of the Father and of the Son, neither made, nor 
created, nor born, but proceeding. Thus there is one 
Father, not three Fathers ; one Son, not three Sons ; 
one Holy Spirit, not three Holy Spirits. And in this 
Trinity none is prior or posterior to the other, neither 
is he greater or less than the other / but all the three 
persons are together eternal, and are altogether equal. 
So that in all things, as was before said, the Unity in 
Trinity, and the Trinity in Unity is to be worshipped 
(according to others, three Persons in one Godhead, and 
one God in three Persons is to be worshipped). Where- 
fore, whoever would be saved, must thus think of the 
Trinity. Lt is also further necessary for salvation, 
that he believe rightly the incarnation of our Lord Jesus 
Christ; (according to others, that he constantly believe 
that our Lord Jesus Christ is true man.) Since the 
true faith is, that we believe and confess, that our Lord 
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and Man, God 
of the substance (or essence ; according to others, na- 
ture) of the Father, born before the world, and man of 
the substance (according to others, nature) of the mother ', 



THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 

born in the world : perfect God and perfect man, con- 
sisting of a rational soul and a human body : equal to 
the Father as to the Divine (principle), and inferior to 
(according to others, less than) the Father as to the 
Human (principle). Who, although God and man, yet 
they are not two, but one Christ : one, not by conversion 
of the Divine Essence into the human (of the Divinity 
into body), but by assumption of the Human essence 
into the Divine (into God) : one altogether, not by com- 
mixture of essence (of substance), but by unity of person 
(according to others, because they are one person) : 
Since as the rational soul and body are one man, so God 
and man is one Christ. Who suffered for our salvation, 
descended into hell, and reascended on the third day 
from the dead, and ascended into heaven, and sitteth on 
the right hand of the Father God Almighty y from 
whence he shall come to judge the living and the dead. 
At whose coming all men shall rise again with their 
bodies ; and they tvho have done good things shall enter 
into life eternal, and they who have done evil things, into 
eternal fire. This is the catholic faith, which unless a 
man believe faithfully, he cannot be saved. Glory to 
God the Father and Son and Holy Spirit. As it was 
in the beginning, is now, and shall be for ever, world 
without end. Amen." 

2. This is the doctrine concerning God received 
throughout the whole Christian world, because it was 
derived from a general council. But before we take this 
doctrine into consideration, an arcanum shall be made 
known concerning the state of man's faith and love in 
this world, and afterwards in that^ into which he comes 
after death. For until this is made known, man has no 
other knowledge than that every one, whatever may have 



6 THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 

been the quality of his faith, may of the divine mercy 
be admitted into heaven and saved ; in which idea is 
grounded the erroneous belief of the Koman Catholics, 
that heaven is open to man at the good pleasure of the 
pope, and by the favor of his vicars. The arcanum is 
this, that all the thoughts of man diffuse themselves into 
the spiritual world in every direction, much in the same 
way as the rays of light are diffused from flame. Since 
the spiritual world is heaven and hell, and each consists 
of innumerable societies, hence the thoughts of man must 
necessarily diffuse themselves into societies ; spiritual 
thoughts, which relate to the Lord, to love and faith in 
Him, and to the truths and goods of heaven and the 
church, into heavenly societies; but merely natural 
thoughts, which relate to the love of self and of the 
world, and not at the same time to God, into infernal 
societies. That there are such extension and determina- 
tion of all the thoughts of man, has been hitherto un- 
known, because nothing was known of the nature either 
of heaven or of hell, thus that they consist of societies, 
that there is consequently an extension of the thoughts 
of man into another world besides that into which his 
natural sight extends. It is however the spiritual world 
into which thought extends, but it is the natural world 
into which vision extends, since the thought of the mind 
is spiritual, and the vision of the eye is natural. That 
there is an extension of all the thoughts of man into the 
societies of the spiritual world, and that no thought can 
be given without such extension, has been made so plain 
to myself from the experience of several years, that I 
can in all good faith assert it to be true. In a word, man 
with his head is in the spiritual world, as with his body 
he is in the natural world. By head is here meant his 



THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 7 

mind, consisting of understanding, thought, will, and 
love; and by body is here meant his senses, which are 
seeing, hearing, smelling, taste, and touch. And because 
man as to his head, that is, as to his mind, is in the 
spiritual world, he is therefore either in heaven or in 
hell ; and where the mind is, there the whole man is, 
head and body, when he becomes a spirit. Man is more- 
over of a quality altogether similar to his conjunction 
with the societies of the spiritual world, being an angel 
of a quality similar to his conjunction with the societies 
of heaven, or a devil of a quality similar to his con- 
junction with the societies of hell. 

3. From what has been said, it is evident that the 
thoughts of man are extensions into societies either 
heavenly or infernal, and chat unless there were exten- 
sions, there would be no thoughts ; for the thought of 
man is like the sight of his eyes, which, unless it had 
extension out of itself, would be either no faculty of 
sight at all, or blindness. But it is man's love that de- 
termines his thoughts into the societies ; good love de- 
termining them into heavenly societies, and evil love 
into infernal societies. For the universal heaven is ar- 
ranged generally, specially, and particularly, into societies, 
according to all the varieties of affections derived from 
love ; on the other hand, hell is arranged into societies 
according to the lusts of the love of evil opposed to the 
affections of the love of good. Man's love is compara- 
tively as fire, and his thoughts are as the rays of light 
derived from it; if the love is good, then the thoughts, 
which are as rays, are truths ; if the love is evil, then 
the thoughts, which are as rays, are falsities. The 
thoughts derived from good love, which are truths, tend 
towards heaven, but the thoughts derived from evil love, 



8 THE ATHANASIAN CKEED. 

which are falsities, tend towards hell ; thej also conjoin, 
adjust, and as it were inoculate themselves into homo- 
geneous societies, that is, such societies as are of similar 
love, so entirely, that the man is altogether one with 
those societies. Man is an image of the Lord, by means 
of love to Him. The Lord is divine love, and in heaven 
before the angels He appears as a sun, from which pro- 
ceed light and heat; the light is the divine truth, and the 
heat is the divine good ; the universal heaven is from 
these two principles, so also are all the societies of heaven. 
The Lord's love with man, who is an image of Him, is 
as fire from that sun, and from this fire in like manner 
proceed light and heat ; the light is the truth of faith, 
and the heat is the good of love, each from the Lord, and 
each engrafted into the societies with which man's love 
acts in unity. That man from creation is an image and 
likeness of God, is evident from Gen. i. 26, and the rea- 
son that he is an image and likeness of the Lord by 
means of love is, that by means of love he is in the 
Lord and the Lord in him. (John xiv. 20, 21.) In a 
word, there cannot exist the smallest portion of thought, 
but what has reception given it in some society, not with 
the individuals or angels of the society, but with the 
affection of love, from which and in which the society 
is. Hence it is that the angels do not discover anything 
of the influx, nor does the influx in any way disturb the 
society. From these considerations the above truth is 
evident, that man whilst he lives in the world, is in con- 
junction with heaven, and also in consociation with the 
angels, although both men and angels are ignorant of it. 
The cause of their ignorance is, that the thought of man 
is natural, and the thought of an angel spiritual, and 
these make one only by correspondences. Since man, 



THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 9 

by the thoughts of his love, is inaugurated into the so- 
cieties either of heaven or of hell, therefore, when he 
comes into the spiritual world, as is the case immediately 
after death, his quality is known by the mere extension 
of his thoughts into the societies, and thus every one is 
explored ; he is also reformed by admissions of his 
thoughts into the societies of heaven, and he is con- 
demned by immersions of his thoughts into the societies 
of hell. 

4. Since man at his birth is not in any society either 
heavenly or infernal, because he is without thought, al- 
though he is born for eternal life, it follows that, in the 
course of time, he opens to himself either heaven or hell, 
and enters into the societies, and becomes an inhabitant 
of the one or of the other, even during his abode in the 
world. The reason that man becomes an inhabitant 
there is, that his real habitation and his native country, 
as it is called, are in the spiritual world ; for he is to live 
there to eternity, after he has lived a few years in the 
natural world. From these considerations it may be 
concluded how necessary it is for man to know what it 
is in him that opens heaven ; and what also opens hell, 
and introduces him into their respective societies ; this 
will be shown in the following articles. It will be suffi- 
cient here to observe, that man gains admission into 
societies of heaven successively more numerous, accord- 
ing to the successive increase of his wisdom, and into 
societies successively more interior, according to the suc- 
cessive increase of his love of good ; and that in pro- 
portion as heaven is opened to him, hell is closed. He 
opens indeed hell for himself, but heaven is opened to 
him by the Lord. 

5. The first and primary thought, which opens heaven 

1* 



10 THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 

to man, is thought concerning God ; the reason is, that 
God is the All of heaven, so much so that whether we 
speak of heaven or of Grod it is the same thing. The 
divine principles which cause the angels, of whom heaven 
consists, to be angels, taken together are Grod ; and hence 
it is that thought concerning God is the first and primary 
of all thoughts that opens heaven to man, for it is the 
head and sum of all truths and loves celestial and spirit- 
ual. But the thought is given from light, and it is given 
from love; the thought from light alone being the 
knowledge that God is, which appears as an acknowledg- 
ment of his existence, but still it is not so. By the 
thought from light, man has presence in heaven, but not 
conjunction with it; for the mere light of thought does 
not conjoin, but places man in the presence of the Lord 
and of the angels. For that light is like the light of 
winter, in which man sees with as much clearness as in 
the light of summer, but which nevertheless does not 
conjoin itself with the earth, nor with any tree or shrub, 
flower, or blade of grass. Every man also has implanted 
in him the faculty of thinking about God, and of under- 
standing by virtue of the light of heaven the things 
which relate to God ; but the thought alone from that 
light, which is intellectual thought, merely causes his 
presence before the Lord and before the angels, as was 
said above. When man is in intellectual thought alone 
concerning God and the things which relate to God, he 
then appears to the angels from a distance as an image 
of ivory or of marble, which can walk and utter sounds, 
but in the face and sounds of which there is still no life. 
He appears also to the angels comparatively like a tree 
in time of winter, with naked branches without leaves, 
but of which there is some hope that it will be covered 



THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 11 

with leaves, and then with fruits, when the heat is united 
with the light, as is the case in time of spring. As 
thought concerning God primarily opens heaven, so 
thought against God primarily closes it. 

6. Thought concerning one God opens heaven to man, 
because there is but one God ; on the other hand, thought 
concerning several Gods closes heaven, because the idea 
of several Gods destroys the idea of one God. Thought 
concerning the true God opens heaven, for heaven with 
all that belongs to it is derived from the true God ; on 
the other hand, thought concerning a false god closes 
heaven, for no other god but the true God is acknow- 
ledged there. Thought concerning God, the Creator, the 
Eedeemer, and the Enlightener opens heaven, for this 
trinity is of the one true God ; thought also concerning 
God as infinite, eternal, uncreate, omnipotent, omnipresent, 
and omniscient, opens heaven, for these are attributes 
of the essence of the one true God. On the other hand, 
thought concerning a living man as God, of a dead man as 
God, or of an idol as God, closes heaven, because they are 
not omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent, uncreate, eternal, 
or infinite, neither from them was creation or redemption 
derived, nor is there from them any enlightenment. 
Thought concerning God as Man, in whom is the divine 
trinity, namely, what is called Father, Son, and Holy 
Spirit, opens heaven ; on the other hand, thought con- 
cerning God as not Man, which is presented apparently 
as a little cloud, or as nature in her smallest principles, 
closes heaven ; for God is Man, as the universal angelic 
heaven in its complex is a man, and every angel and 
spirit is thence a man. Therefore it is that thought 
alone concerning the Lord, as being the God of the uni- 
verse, opens heaven ; for the Lord says, " The Father 



12 THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 

hath given all things into the hand of the Son." (John 
iii. 35.) " The Father hath given to the Son power over 
all flesh." (John xvii. 2.) " All things are delivered to 
Me by the Father." (Matt. xi. 27.) "All power is 
given to Me in heaven and in earth." (Matt, xxviii. 18.) 
From these considerations it is evident, that man without 
such an idea of God, as exists in heaven, cannot be saved. 
The idea of God in heaven is the Lord ; for the angels 
of heaven are in the Lord, and the Lord in them, and 
therefore, to think of any other God than the Lord, is to 
them impossible. (See John xiv. 20, 21.) Allow me 
to add, that the idea of God as Man, is engrafted from 
heaven in every nation throughout the whole terrestrial 
globe, but, what I lament, it is destroyed in Christendom : 
the causes will be shown below. 

7. The thought alone that God exists, and that the 
Lord is the God of heaven, opens heaven indeed and 
renders man present there, yet so slightly, that he is 
almost unseen, appearing far off as in the shade ; but in 
proportion as his thought becomes more full, more true, 
and more just, concerning God, in the same proportion 
he appears in the light. The thought becomes more full 
by the knowledges of truth which are of faith, and of 
good which are of love, derived from the Word ; for all 
things which are from the Word are divine, and divine 
things taken together are God. The man who thinks 
only that God exists, without thinking of His nature or 
quality, is like one who thinks that the Word exists, and 
that it is holy, but knows nothing of its contents ; or 
that the law exists, but knows nothing of what is con- 
tained in the law ; when yet the thought of what God is, 
is so extensive that it fills heaven, and constitutes all the 
wisdom in which the angels dwell, which is ineffable, for 



THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 13 

in itself it is infinite, because God is infinite. The 
thought that God exists, derived from His quality, is 
what is meant in the Word bj the name of God. 

8. It was said that man has thought from light, and 
that he has thought from love, and that thought from 
light causes his presence in heaven, but that thought from 
love causes his conjunction with heaven ; the reason is, 
that love is spiritual conjunction. Hence it is, that when 
the thought from man's light becomes the thought from 
his love, he is introduced into heaven, as into a mar- 
riage ; and so far as love in the thought from light is the 
primary agent, or leads the thought, so far man enters 
heaven, as a bride enters the bride-chamber, and is mar- 
ried. For in the Word the Lord is called the bride- 
groom and husband, and heaven and the church are 
called the bride and wife. By being married is meant 
being conjoined with some society in heaven, and man is 
so far conjoined with it, as he has procured to himself in 
the world intelligence and wisdom from the Lord, by the 
Word, thus so far as by divine truths he has learned to 
think that God exists, and that the Lord is that God. 
But he who thinks from few truths, thus from little intel- 
ligence, whilst he thinks from love, is conjoined indeed 
with heaven, but in its more ultimate principles. By 
love is meant love to the Lord, and by loving the Lord 
is not meant loving him as a person ; it is not by this 
love alone that man is conjoined with heaven, but by the 
love of divine good and divine truth, which are the Lord 
in heaven and in the church. And these two principles 
are not loved by knowing and thinking of them, or by 
understanding and speaking of them, but by willing and 
doing them, for this reason that they are commanded by 
the Lord, and hence because they are uses. Nothing is 



14 THE ATHANASIAN CEEED. 

full or complete until it becomes a deed ; the deed is the 
end in view, and the end for the sake of which the deed 
is done, is love ; and therefore, it is from the love of 
willing and doing something, that the love of knowing 
it, of thinking of it, and of understanding it, exists. Tell 
me why you are desirous of knowing and understanding 
a thing, unless it is for the sake of an end which you 
love ; the end which is loved is a deed. If you say it is 
for the sake of belief, it is belief alone, or a belief merely 
of the thought, without actual belief which is deed ; it is 
thus a nonentity. You are very much deceived if you 
think that you believe in God, unless you do the things 
which are of God ; for the Lord teaches in John : " He 
that hath my precepts and doeth them, he it is who 
loveth Me, and I will make my abode with him ; but he 
who loveth Me not, keepeth not my words." (xiv. 21, 
24.) In a word, to love and to do are one, and therefore 
in the Word where mention is made of loving, doing is 
understood, and where mention is made of doing, loving 
is also understood ; for that which I love, I do. 

9. There is thought given from light concerning God, 
and concerning divine subjects, which in heaven are 
called celestial and spiritual, and in the world ecclesiasti- 
cal and theological ; and there is thought given which is 
not from light concerning them. The thought which is 
not from light belongs to those who know these things 
and do not understand them. Such are all those at this 
day, who desire that the understanding should be kept 
under the obedience of faith ; insisting even that men 
must believe and not understand, and that intellectual 
faith is not true faith. But such men are not in the 
genuine affection of truth, from an interior principle, and 
consequently are not in any enlightenment. Many of 



THE ATHANASIAN CKEED. 15 

them are in the conceit of their own intelligence, and in 
the love of domineering, by means of the sanctities of the 
church, over the souls of men ; not aware, that truth 
desires to be in the light, because the light of heaven is 
divine truth, and that the understanding truly human is 
affected by that light, and sees from it. For if the under- 
standing did not thus see, it would be the memory, and not 
the man, that has faith, and such faith is blind, because 
without an idea from the light of truth, for the under- 
standing is the man, the memory is merely introductory 
to it. If that which is not intelligible is to be believed, 
man might have been taught, like a parrot, to say and to 
remember, that there is even sanctity in the bones and 
sepulchres of the dead ; that dead bodies perform mira- 
cles ; that man will be tormented in purgatory, if he 
does not consecrate his wealth to idols or monasteries ; 
that men are gods, because heaven and hell are in their 
power ; besides other similar things, which man is to 
believe from a blind faith and a closed understanding, 
and thus from the light of both extinguished. But be it 
known that all the truths of the Word, which are the 
truths of heaven and of the church, may be seen by the 
understanding, in heaven spiritually, and in the world 
rationally ; for the understanding truly human is the 
very faculty of seeing them, for it is separated from what 
is material, and sees truths as clearly as the eye sees 
objects; it sees truths as it loves them, for as it loves 
them it is enlightened. The angels have wisdom in con- 
sequence of seeing truths ; wherefore, when any angel is 
told that this or that is to be believed, although it is not 
understood, the angel replies : " Do you suppose that I am 
insane, or that you are a god whom I am to believe ? 
If I do not see, it may be something false from hell." 



16 THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 

10. We now proceed to the doctrine of the Trinity, 
which was drawn up by Athanasius, and confirmed by 
the council of Nice. This doctrine is such that, when it 
has been read, it leaves a clear idea that there are three 
persons, and hence that there are three unanimous Gods, 
but it leaves an obscure idea that God is one ; when yet, 
as was said above, an idea from the thought of one God 
primarily opens heaven to man ; and on the other hand 
an idea of three Gods closes it. With regard to the 
assertion that the Athanasian doctrine, when it has been 
read, leaves a clear idea that there are three persons, and 
hence that there are three unanimous Gods, and that this 
unanimous Trinity produces the thought that there is one 
God, let every one consult himself whether he thinks 
an} 7 thing else. For it is said, in the Athanasian Creed, 
in express words : " There is one person of the Father, 
another of the Son, and another of the Holy Spirit. The 
Father is uncreate, infinite, eternal, omnipotent, God, Lord ; 
so 'likewise is the Son, and so likewise is the Holy Spirit. 
Also, the Father was made and created of none, the Son was 
born of the Father, and the Holy Spirit proceedeth from 
both. TJius there is one Father, one Son, and one Holy 
Spirit. And in this Trinity all the three persons are 
together eternal, and are altogether equal." From these 
words it is impossible for any one to think otherwise 
than that there are three Gods ; neither could Athana- 
sius himself, nor even the Nicene council, think other- 
wise, as is evident from these words inserted in the doc- 
trine : " As we are obliged by the Christian verity to 
acknowledge every person by himself to be God and Lord, 
yet are we forbidden by the catholic religion to say there are 
three Gods or three Lords.'''' This cannot be understood 
in any other sense than that we may acknowledge three 



THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 17 

Gods and Lords, but not name them ; or that we may 
think of three Gods and Lords, but not speak of them. 

11. That the doctrine of the Trinity, which is called 
the Athanasian Creed, leaves an obscure idea that God is 
one, so obscure even as not to remove the idea of three 
Gods, may be manifest from this consideration, that the 
doctrine makes one God of three, by unity of essence, 
saying : " This is the catholic faith, that ive worship one 
God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity, neither commixing 
the persons, nor separating the essence;" and afterwards: 
" Thus the Unity in Trinity, and the Trinity in Unity is to 
be worshipped." This is said in order to remove the idea 
of three Gods, but it does not affect the understanding in 
any other way than by suggesting that there are three 
persons, and that all have one divine essence. So that 
by divine essence is here meant God, though essence, as 
well as divinit}', majesty, and glory, which are also men- 
tioned, is a predicate, and God, as being a person, is the 
subject. Wherefore to say that essence is God would be 
like saying that a predicate is the subject, when yet 
-essence is not God, but belongs to God. So likewise 
majesty and glory are not God, but belong to God, as 
a predicate is not the subject, but belongs to the subject. 
Hence it is evident that the idea of three Gods as three 
persons is not removed. This may be illustrated by 
means of a comparison. Suppose there are in one king- 
dom three rulers of equal power, and that each is called 
king. In this case, if power and majesty are meant by 
king, they may, in compliance with a mandate to that 
effect, be called and styled king, though not easily one 
king. But since it is person that is meant by king, it is 
impossible, in compliance with any mandate, that three 
kings can be conceived to be one king. If therefore 



18 THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 

they should say to you, " Address us with the same free- 
dom that you think," you would undoubtedly say : " Ye 
kings;" in fact you would not even say: "Your 
Majesty," but, "Your Majesties." If you should reply : 
"I think as I speak, and in obedience to the mandate," 
you are deceived, because you either pretend what is not 
true, or you force yourself; and if you force yourself, 
your thought is not left to itself free, but is riveted to 
your words. That this is the case was seen also by 
Athanasius, and therefore he explains the preceding 
words by the following : "As we are obliged by the Chris- 
tian verity to acknowledge every person by himself to be God 
and Lord, yet are we forbidden by the catholic religion to say 
that there are three Gods or three Lords. 71 These words 
cannot be understood as conveying any other meaning, 
than that we may acknowledge three Gods and Lords, 
but not name them ; or that we may think of three Gods 
and Lords, but not speak of them, because it is contrary 
to the Christian faith ; that we may in like manner 
acknowledge and think of three as infinite, eternal, 
uncreate, and omnipotent, because there are three persons, 
though we may not speak of more than one. The rea- 
sons that Athanasius added the words just quoted is, 
that no one, not even himself, could think otherwise. 
Every one can, however, speak otherwise; and the 
reason that every one ought to speak so is, that it is 
taught from the Christian religion, that is, from the Word, 
that there are not three Gods, but that there is one God. 
Moreover, the property which is assigned to each person 
as his special attribute, as creation to the Father, redemp- 
tion to the Son, and enlightenment to the Holy Spirit, is 
not thus one and the same with the three persons, and 
yet each property enters the divine essence, for creation, 



THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 19 

redemption, and enlightenment, are divine. Besides, 
what man who is desirous to convert the idea of three 
Gods into that of one God, thinks that the Trinity in 
Unity and the Unity in Trinity is to be worshipped, neither 
commixing the persons, nor separating the essence ? Who 
can do this by any metaphysical subtlety which surpasses 
the apprehension ? The simple are utterly unable ; and 
the learned hurry the subject over, saying to themselves, 
" This is my doctrine and faith concerning God ; " with- 
out retaining either in their memory from the obscure 
idea, or in their idea from the memory, anything more 
than this, that there are three persons, and one God. 
Every man also makes the one out of the three in his 
own way, but this only when he speaks and writes ; for 
when he thinks, he cannot think otherwise than of three, 
and of one from the unanimity of the three ; and many 
do not think of one, even from this unanimity. But 
listen, Beader ! Do not say to yourself, that these re- 
marks are too harshly or too boldly made against the 
faith universally received concerning the triune God; 
for in the following pages you will see, that all the col- 
lective and single things which are written in the Atha- 
nasian creed, are in agreement with the truth, if only, 
instead of three persons, one person is acknowledged, in 
whom the Trinity centres. 

12. Another point which the Athanasian doctrine 
teaches is, that in the Lord there are two essences, the 
Divine and the Human. Here again the idea is clear 
that the Lord has a Divine principle and a Human, that 
is, that the Lord is God and man ; but the idea is ob- 
scure, that the Divine principle of the Lord is in the 
Human, as the soul is in the body. The clear idea that 
the Lord has a Divine principle and a Human, is drawn 



20 THE ATHANASIAN CKEED. 

from these words : " The true faith is, that we believe and 
confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God 
and man ; God of the substance of the Father born before the 
world; and man of the substance of the mother born in the 
world ; perfect God and perfect man, consisting of a rational 
soul. Equal to the Father as to the Divine principle, and 
inferior to the Father as to- the Human principle.'''' Here the 
clear idea terminates, because from the notions which 
follow an obscure idea is produced. Notions of this 
kind, which belong to an obscure idea, not entering the 
memory from any enlightened thought, gain no place in 
it but amongst such notions as do not belong to intel- 
lectual light. And since no such notions there appear 
before the understanding, they hide themselves, and can- 
not be called forth out of the memory with the notions 
which originate in intellectual light. The point in the 
doctrine involved in the obscure idea is, that the Divine 
principle of the Lord is in his human principle, as the 
soul is in the body ; for on this subject it is thus said : 
" Who, although he be God and man, yet they are not two, 
but one Christ; one altogether by unity of person ; since as 
the reasonable soul and the body are one man, so God and 
man is one Christ. 1,1 The idea contained in these words 
is in itself indeed clear, but it becomes obscure by the 
following words: u One, not by conversion of the Divine 
essence into the Human, but by the assumption of the Human 
essence into the Divine ; one altogether, not by commixture of 
essence, but by unity of person. 77 Since the clear idea pre- 
vails over the obscure, therefore most people, both sim- 
ple and learned, think of the Lord as of an ordinary man 
like themselves, and in this case they do not think at the 
same time of His Divine principle. If they do think of 
the Divine principle, in that case they separate it in their 



THE ATH AN ASIAN CREED. 21 

idea from the Human, and by that means also destroy 
the unity of person. If they are asked, where His Divine 
principle is, they reply according to their idea, that it 
is in heaven with the Father. The reason that they 
reply in this way, and have this perception is, that it is 
repugnant to them to think that the Human principle 
is Divine, and thus together with its Divine principle 
in Heaven. They are not aware that, when in thought 
they separate the Divine principle of the Lord from his 
Human, they not only think contrary to their own 
doctrine, which teaches that the Divine principle of the 
Lord is in his Human, as the soul is in the body, that 
there is also unity of person, that is, that the Divine 
principle and the Human are one person, but they also 
charge that doctrine undeservedly with the contradiction 
or fallacy,, that the Human principle of the Lord was, 
together with the rational soul, from the mother alone, 
though every man is rational by virtue of the soul which 
is derived from the father. But that there is such a 
thought in their minds, and such a separation made, fol- 
lows also from the idea of three Gods ; for from this idea 
it is supposed that the Divine principle of the Lord in the 
Human is from the Divine principle of the Father, who 
is the first person, though it is His own Divine principle, 
which descended from heaven and assumed the Human. 
If man does not rightly perceive this, he may possibly 
suppose, that the Father fiom whom are all things was 
not one Divine principle, but threefold, though this can- 
not be received with any belief In a word, they who 
separate the Divine principle of the Lord from the Hu- 
man, and do not think that the Divine is in the Human, 
as the soul is in the body, and that they are one person, 
may fall into gross ideas concerning the Lord, even into 



22 THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 

the idea as of a man separate from a soul. Beware there- 
fore that you do not think of the Lord as of a man like 
yourself, but rather think of Him as of Man who is God. 
Listen, Reader! "When you are perusing these pages, 
you may think that you have in no instance, even in 
thought, separated the Divine principle of the Lord from 
his Human, or the Human from the Divine. But pray 
consult your own thought, when you have directed it to 
the Lord, whether you have in any instance considered, 
that the Divine principle of the Lord is in his Human as 
the soul is* in the body ; whether you have not thought 
— or, if you please, even now, whether you do not think 
— of his Human principle and of his Divine principle 
separately ; when again you think of his Human prin- 
ciple, whether you do not think that it is like the human 
principle of another man ; and when of his Divine prin- 
ciple, whether it is not, in your idea, with the Father. 
I have questioned great numbers on this subject, even 
the primates of the church, and they have all replied 
that the case is so. And when I have said that still it is 
in agreement with the doctrine of the Athanasian Creed, 
which is the very doctrine of their church concerning 
God and the Lord, that the Divine principle of the Lord 
is in his Human, as the soul in the body, they have 
replied, that they were not aware of it. And when I 
have read to them these words of the doctrine, " Our 
Lord Jesus Christ the Son of God, although he he God and 
man, yet they are not two hut one Christ: one altogether by 
unity of person: since as the reasonable sold and body are 
one man, so God and man is one Christ ; " they have been 
silent, and confessed afterwards that they had not ob- 
served them, being indignant at themselves for having 
so superficially examined their own doctrine. Some 



THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 23 

have on these occasions abandoned their mystic union 
of the Divine principle of the Father with the Human 
of the Lord. That the Divine principle is in the Human 
of the Lord, as the soul is in the body, the Word teaches 
and testifies in Matthew and in Luke ; in Matthew thus : 
" Mary being betrothed to Joseph, before they came 
together was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit : 
and an angel said to Joseph in a dream, Fear not to take 
Mary thy wife, for that which is conceived in her is from 
the Holy Spirit. And Joseph knew her not until she 
brought forth her first-born Son, and he called his name 
Jesus." (i. 18, 20, 25.) And in Luke: "The angel said 
to Mary, Behold, thou shalt conceive in the womb, and 
shalt bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. 
Mary said to the angel, How shall this be, since I know 
not a man ? the angel answering, said, The Holy Spirit 
shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall 
overshadow thee, wherefore also the Holy Thing which 
is born of thee shall be called the Son of God." (i. 31, 
34, 35.) From these words it is evident, that the Divine 
principle was in the Lord from conception, and that it 
was His life from the Father, which life is His soul. We 
shall now proceed to show,. that even the things con- 
tained in the Athanasian doctrine, which produce an 
obscure idea of the Lord, are in agreement with the truth* 
when the trinity, namely, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, 
is thought and believed to be in the Lord as in one per- 
son. Without this thought and belief, it may be said, as 
indeed it is said, that Christians differing from all people 
and nations in the whole world, who have the gift of rea- 
son, worship three Gods; though the Christian world may 
and ought to surpass all men in the clearness of their doc- 
trine and belief, that God is one both in essence and person, 



21 THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 

13. It has been shown, that the doctrine of the Atha- 
nasian Creed, when it has been read, leaves a clear idea, 
that there are three persons, and hence frhat there are 
three unanimous Gods ; and an obscure idea that God is 
one, so obscure even, that it does not remove the idea of 
three Gods. And further, that the same doctrine leaves 
a clear idea that the Lord has a Divine principle and a 
Human, that is, that the Lord is God and Man ; but an 
obscure idea that the Divine and Human principles of the 
Lord are one person, and that his divine principle is in 
his Human, as the soul is in the body. It has been also 
said that all things contained in that doctrine, from begin- 
ning to end, both such as are clear and such as are ob- 
scure, nevertheless agree and coincide with the truth, 
provided that, instead of saying that God is one in essence 
and three in person, it is believed, as the truth really is, 
that God is one both in essence and in person. There is 
a trinity in God, and there is also unity ; that there is a 
trinity may be manifest from the passages in the Word 
where mention is made of the Father, Son, and Holy 
Spirit ; and that there is unity, from the passages in the 
Word where it is said that God is one. The unity in 
which is the trinity, or the one God in whom is the three- 
fold principle (trinum), is not given in the Divine princi- 
ple which is called the Father, nor in the Divine principle 
which is called the Holy Spirit, but in the Lord alone. 
For in the Lord there is a threefold principle, namely, the 
Divine principle which is called the Father, the Divine 
Human which is called the Son, and the Divine Proceed- 
ing which is the Holy Spirit ; and this threefold principle 
is one, because it belongs to one person, and may hence 
be called triune. In what now follows will be seen the 
agreement of all the points of the Athanasian doctrine 



THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 25 

with what is here asserted ; First, of the trinity : Secondly, 
of the unity of person in the Lord : Thirdly, that it is 
owing to the divine providence, that this doctrine was so 
written, that although it is at variance with the truth, it 
still agrees with it. It will afterwards be proved gener- 
ally that the threefold principle is in the Lord ; and then^ 
specially that He is the Divine principle which is called 
the Father, that He is that which is called the Son, and 
that He is that also which is called the Holy Spirit. 

14. We shall now proceed to the agreement of all the 
points of the Athanasian doctrine with this truth, that 
God, in whom is the threefold principle, is one both in 
essence and person ; and that this agreement may be es- 
tablished and made clear, we shall proceed in due order. 
The Athanasian doctrine first teaches thus : " The catholic 
faith is this, that ive worship one God in Trinity, and Trin- 
ity in Unity, neither commixing the persons nor separating 
the essence." If instead of three persons one person is 
understood, in whom is the threefold principle or trinity, 
these words are in themselves truth, and are perceived 
with a clear idea thus : '• The Christian faith is this, that 
we worship one God, in whom is the trinity, and the 
trinity in one God, and that God, in whom is the trinity, 
is one person, and that the trinity in God is one essence: 
thus there is one God in trinity, and trinity in unity, 
neither are the persons commixed, nor is the essence 
separated." That the persons are not commixed, nor the 
essence separated, will appear more clearly from what now 
follows. The Athanasian doctrine further teaches," " Since 
there is one person of the Father, another of the Son, and 
another of the Holy Sp>irit, hut the Divinity of the Father, of 
the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, is one and the same, the glory 
equal" In this case again, if instead of three persons one 

2 



26 THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 

person is understood, in whom is the threefold principle 
or trinity, the words are in themselves truth, and with a 
clear idea are perceived thus : " The trinity in the Lord, 
as in one person, is the Divine principle which is called 
the Father, the Divine Human which is called the Son, 
and the Divine Proceeding which is called the Holy 
Spirit; but the Divinity or divine essence of the three is 
one, the glory equal." Again : " Such as the Father is, 
such is the Son, and such is the Holy Spirit: " These words, 
are in this case perceived thus : " Such as is the Divine 
principle which is called the Father, such is the Divine 
principle which is called the Son, and such is the Divine 
principle which is called the Holy Spirit." And further : 
" The Father is uncreate, the Son is uncreate, and the Holy 
Spirit is uncreate : the Father is infinite, the Son is infinite, 
and the Holy Spirit is infinite : the Father is eternal, the Son 
is eternal, and the Holy Spirit is eternal : nevertheless, there 
are not three eternals, but one eternal : and there are not three 
infinites, but one infinite ; neither are there three uncreate, 
but one uncreate : as the Father is almighty, so the Son is al- 
mighty, and the Holy Spirit almighty, and yet there are not 
three almighties, but one almighty.' 1 '' If, instead of three 
persons, one person is understood, in whom is the three- 
fold principle or trinity, in this case also these words are 
in themselves truth, and with a clear idea are perceived 
thus : " As the Divine principle in the Lord, which is 
called the Father, is uncreate, infinite, omnipotent, so the 
Divine Human principle which is called the Son, is 
uncreafe, infinite, omnipotent, and so the Divine prin- 
ciple which is called the Holy Spirit, is uncreate, infinite, 
and omnipotent; but these three are one, because the 
Lord is one God, both in essence and person, in whom is 
the trinity." In the Athanasian doctrine are also the 



THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 27 

following words: "As the Father is God, the Son also is 
God, and the Holy Spirit is God, nevertheless there are not 
three Gods, but one God. So the Father is Lord, the Son is 
Lord, and the Holy Spirit is Lord, yet there are not three 
Lords, but one Lord." In this case again, if instead of 
three persons one person is understood, in whom is the 
threefold principle or trinity, the words are perceived 
with a clear idea, thus : " That the Lord, from his Divine 
principle which is called the Father, from his Divine Hu- 
man which is called the Son, and from his Divine Pro- 
ceeding which is called the Holy Spirit, is one God and 
one Lord, since the three Divine principles called by the 
names of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, are in the Lord 
one in essence and in person." Further : " Forasmuch 
as we are obliged by the Christian verity to acknowledge every 
'person by himself to be God and Lord, yet are we forbidden 
by the catholic religion to say there are three Gods or three 
Lords." (In other copies thus : " As we are bound by 
the Christian verity to acknowledge every person to be 
God or Lord, so we cannot in the Christian faith make 
mention of three Gods or three Lords.'') These words 
cannot be understood in any other way than that accord- 
ing to Christian truth we must acknowledge and think 
that there are three Gods and three Lords : but that still 
we may not, according to the Christian faith and religion, 
speak of them or name them. This is, however, done, 
for most men think of three Gods who are unanimous, 
and hence call them a unanimous trinity, though they are 
still bound to say one God. But as there are not three 
persons, but one person, instead therefore of the above 
words, which ought to be taken away from the Athana- 
sian doctrine, may be substituted the following: " When 
we acknowledge the threefold principle or trinity in the 



28 THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 

Lord, it is then in agreement with truth, and thus with, 
the Christian faith and religion, that we acknowledge 
both with the lips and from the heart one God and one 
Lord." For, if we were allowed to acknowledge and 
think of three, we should be allowed also to believe in 
three, for belief or faith belongs to thought and acknowl- 
edgment, and hence to speech, and not to speech separate 
from thought and acknowledgment. Afterwards follow 
these words : " The Father was made of none, neither created 
nor born : tlie Son is of the Father alone, not made, nor cre- 
ated, but born: the Holy Spirit is of the Father and of the Son, 
not made, nor created, nor born, but proceeding : Thus 
there is one Father, not three Fathers ; one Son, not three 
Sons ; one Holy Spirit, not three Holy Spirits" These 
words are quite in agreement with the truth, if only for 
the Father we understand the Divine principle of the 
Lord which is called the Father ; for the Son, his Divine 
Human principle ; and for the Holy Spirit, his Divine 
Proceeding. For from the Divine principle, which is 
called the Father, was born the Divine Human principle, 
which is called the Son, and from both proceeds the Di- 
vine principle, which is called the Holy Spirit: but of 
the Divine Human principle, born of the Father, we shall 
speak more specially in what follows. From these con- 
siderations it is now evident, that the Athanasian doctrine 
agrees with the above truth, that God is one both in es- 
sence and in person, provided that instead of three per- 
sons there is understood one person, in whom is the 
threefold principle or trinity, which is called Father, 
Son, and Holy Spirit. In the following article, a similar 
agreement will be established concerning the unity of 
person in the Lord. 

15. We shall now proceed to the agreement of the 



THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 29 

Athanasian doctrine with this truth, that the Human 
principle of the Lord is divine by virtue of the Divine 
principle which was in Him from conception. That the 
Human principle of the Lord is divine, appears, indeed, 
as if it were not grounded in the Athanasian doctrine, 
but still it is so, as is evident from the following words in 
the doctrine : " Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is 
God and Man. Who although God and Man, yet they are 
not two hut one Christ ; one altogether by unity of person (or 
as others express it, because they are one person) ; since as the 
rational soul and the body are one man, so God and Man is 
one Christ.' 1 '' Now, since the soul and body are one man, 
and hence one person, and the body is of a corresponding 
quality with the soul, it follows, that since his soul from 
the Father was divine, the body which is his Human 
principle, is divine also. He had, indeed, assumed a body 
or human principle from the mother, but he put off this 
in the w T orld, and put on a Human principle from the 
Father, and this is the Divine Human. It is said in the 
doctrine, " Equal to the Father as to the Divine {principle), 
inferior to the Father as to the Human" This also agrees 
with the truth, if the human principle from the mother 
is understood, as is the case in this instance in the creed. 
In the doctrine again it is said : " God and man is one 
Christ ; one, not by conversion of the divine substance into the 
human, but by taking the human substance into the divine: 
one altogether, not by commixture of substance, but by unity of 
person" These words again agree with the truth, since 
the soul does not convert itself into body, nor commix 
with body that it may become bod}', but it takes a body. 
to itself. Thus soul and body, although they are two 
distinct things, are still one man ; and with respect to 
the Lord, they are one Christ, that is, one Man, who is 



SO THE ATHANASIAN CKEED. 

God. More will be said on the Divine Human principle 
of the Lord in what follows. 

16. It is to be attributed to the divine providence of 
the Lord that all the collective and several parts of the 
Athanasian doctrine concerning the trinity and the Lord, 
are truth and agree with each other, if only instead of 
three persons there is understood one person, in whom 
the trinity centres, and it is believed that that person is 
the Lord. For unless men had accepted a trinity of 
persons, they would at that time have become either 
Arians or Socinians, and hence the Lord would have 
been acknowledged as a mere man, and not as God, by 
which means the Christian church would have perished, 
and heaven, so far as the man of the church is concerned, 
would have been closed. For no one is conjoined with 
heaven and admitted there after death, unless in the idea 
of his thought he sees God as Man, and at the same time 
believes that God is one both in essence and in person — 
by this the heathen are saved — and unless he acknow- 
ledges the Lord, His Divine principle and His Human — by 
this the member of the Christian church is saved, when 
he lives at the same time a Christian life. It was of 
divine permission that the doctrine concerning God and 
the Lord, which is the primary doctrine of all, was so 
conceived by Athanasius ; for it was foreseen by the 
Lord, that the Roman Catholics would not otherwise have 
acknowledged the Divine principle of the Lord, because 
even to this day they separate it from his" Human; 
neither would the members of the Reformed Church have 
seen it in the Human principle of the Lord, for they who 
are in faith separate from charity, do not see it ; but still 
both of them acknowledge the Divine principle of the 
Lord in a trinity of persons. Nevertheless, the doctrine 



THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 31 

which is called the Athanasian Creed, was by the divine 
providence of the Lord so composed, that all things 
therein are truths, if only instead of three persons one 
person is admitted, in whom is the trinity, and it is 
believed that that person is the Lord. It is also by the 
permission of providence that persons are spoken of, for 
a person is a man, and a divine person is God who is 
Man. This is revealed at this day for the sake of the 
New Church, which is called the Holy Jerusalem. 

17. That there is in the Lord the trinity, or threefold 
principle, the Divine Itself which is called the Father, 
the Divine Human which is called the Son, and the 
Divine Proceeding which is called the Holy Spirit, may 
be manifest from the Word, from the divine essence, and 
from heaven. From the Word : In those passages 
where the Lord Himself teaches, that the Father and He 
are one, and that the Holy Spirit proceeds from Him 
and from the Father ; where again He teaches, that the 
Father is in Him and He in the Father, and that the 
Spirit of Truth, which is the Holy Spirit, does not speak 
from Himself but from the Lord. In like manner, from 
passages in the Old Testament, where the Lord is called 
Jehovah, the Son of God, and the Holy One of Israel. 
From the divine essence : From this it appears, that 
one Divine principle by itself is not given, but there will 
be a threefold principle, which consists of esse, existere, 
and procedere. For the esse must necessarily exist, and 
when it exists, it must proceed that it may produce ; and 
this threefold principle is one in essence and in person, 
and is God. This may be illustrated by comparison : 
An angel of heaven is threefold and thus one ; the esse 
of an angel is that which is called his soul, the existere is 
that which is called his body, and the procedere from 



32 THE ATHANASIAN CEEED. 

both is that which is called the sphere of his life, without 
which an angel has neither existence- nor being. By- 
means of this threefold principle an angel is an image of 
God, and is called a son of God, and also an heir, and 
even a god ; nevertheless, an angel is not life from 
himself, but a recipient of life, God alone being life from 
Himself. From heaven : Because the threefold Divine 
principle, which is one in essence and in person, is such 
in heaven ; for the Divine principle which is called the 
Father, and the Divine Human which is called the Son, 
appear there before the angels as a sun, and the Divine 
Proceeding from them appears as light united to heat, 
the light being divine truth, and the heat divine good. 
Thus the Divine principle which is called the Father, is 
the Divine esse, the Divine Human which is called the 
Son, is the Divine existere from that esse, and the Divine 
principle which is called the Holy Spirit, is the Divine 
Proceeding from the divme existere and the divine esse. 
This threefold principle is the Lord in heaven ; it is His 
divine love that appears there as a sun. 

18. It has been said, that one Divine principle by itself 
is not given, but that it must be threefold, and that this 
threefold principle is one God in essence and in person. 
The question then arises, what sort of a threefold princi- 
ple had God, before the Lord assumed the Human prin- 
ciple and made it divine in the world? God was then 
in like manner Man, and had a Divine principle, a Divine 
Human, and a Divine Proceeding; or a divine esse, 
a divine existere, and a divine procedere ; for, as was 
said, God without a threefold principle is not given. But 
the Divine Human was not then divine even to ulti mates, 
the ultimates being what are called flesh and bones ; but 
these also were made divine by the Lord, when he was 



THE ATHANASIAN CREED. S3 

in the world, Tt is this that was accessory or additional, 
and this is the Divine Human that God now has. The 
subject again may be illustrated by a comparison : Every* 
angel is a man, having a soul, a body, and a proceeding 
principle; but still he is not thus a perfect man, for he 
has not flesh and bones, as a man in the world has. That 
the Lord made his Human principle divine even to its 
ultimates, which are called flesh and bones, He Himself 
shows to the disciples, who when they saw Him believed 
that they saw a spirit, saying, " See My hands and My 
feet, that it is I Myself; handle Me and see, for a spirit 
hath not flesh and bones as ye see Me have " (Luke 
xxiv. 39) ; from which it follows, that God now is Man 
in a way surpassing the angels. Comparison has been 
made with an angel or man ; it must, however, be under- 
stood, that God is life in Himself, but that an angel or 
man is not life in himself, for he is a recipient of life. 
That the Lord as to each principle, the Divine and the 
Divine Human, is life in Himself, He teaches in John : 
" As the Father hath life in Himself, so hath He given 
to the Son to have life in Himself" (v. 26) : by Father in 
this passage the Lord means the Divine principle in 
Himself; for in other passages He says, that "the 
Father is in Him, and that the Father and He are one." 

19. Some persons in the Christian world have formed 
to themselves an idea of God as of the universe ; some, as 
of nature in her inmost principles ; others, as of a cloud in 
some space of ether ; some, as of a bright ray of light ; 
while others have formed no idea of Him whatever ; and 
but few the idea of God as Man, although God is Man. 
That Christians have formed to themselves such ideas of 
God is attributable to several causes : the first is, that from 
their doctrine they believe in three divine persons distinct 



31 THE ATI! AN ASIAN CREED. 

from each other, in the Father as the invisible God, and in 
the Lord, but as to his Human principle not God. The 
second is, that they believe that God is a spirit, and they 
think of a spirit as of wind, or air, or ether, though every 
spirit is a man. The third is, that Christians, in conse- 
quence of their faith alone without life, have become 
worldly, and from their self-love, corporeal; and the 
worldly and corporeal man does not see God except from 
space, he thus regards God as the whole inmost principle 
in the universe, consequently as something extended. But 
God is not to be seen from space ; for there is no space in 
the spiritual world, space there being only an appearance 
derived from that which resembles it. Every sensual 
man sees God in a similar manner, because he thinks but 
little above his speech, and the thought of his speech 
inwardly whispers, " What the eye sees and the hand 
touches, this, I know, exists," and banishes all other 
considerations, as if they were mere words. These are 
the causes that in the Christian world there is no idea of 
God as Man. That there is no such idea, that there is 
even a repugnance to it, will be seen, if a man only 
examines himself, and thinks of the Divine Human 
principle, though still the Human principle of the Lord 
is divine. The above ideas of God, however, do not 
belong so much to the simple, as to the intelligent, for 
many of the latter are blinded by the conceit of their own 
intelligence, and are hence infatuated by their knowledge, 
according to the Lord's words (Matthew xi. 25 ; xiii. 13, 
14, 15). But they should know, that all who see God as 
Man see Him from the Lord, all others from themselves; 
and they who see from themselves, have no true vision. 

20. But I will relate -what cannot but appear wonder- 
ful : Every man in the idea of his spirit sees God as Man, 






THE ATH AN ASIAN CREED. 35 

even he who in the idea of his body sees him as a cloud 
or mist, as air or ether, and who has denied that God is 
Man ; for man is in the idea of his spirit when he thinks 
abstractedly, and in the idea of his body when he does 
not think abstractedly. That every man in the idea of 
his spirit sees God as Man, has been made evident to me 
from men after death, who are then in the ideas of the 
spirit. For men after death become spirits, in which case 
it is impossible for them to think of God otherwise than 
as of Man. The experiment was made whether they 
could think otherwise, and for this purpose they were put 
into the state in which they were in the world, and then 
they thought of God, some as of the universe, others as of 
nature in her inmost principles, some as of a cloud in the 
midst of ether, others as of a bright ray of light, and some 
again differently. But when they came out of that state 
into the state of the spirit, they instantly thought of God 
as Man ; at which even they themselves wandered, and 
said that it was implanted in every spirit. But evil 
spirits, who in the world denied God, deny Him also 
after death, nevertheless instead of God they worship 
some spirit, w r ho, by means of diabolical arts, gains 
ascendency over the rest. It was said, that to think of 
God as Man is implanted in every spirit, and that it is 
effected by an influx of the Lord into the interior of the 
spirit's thoughts, is evident from the following: The 
angels of all the heavens acknowledge the Lord alone ; 
they acknowledge his Divine principle w T hich is called 
the Father, they see his Divine Human principle, and 
they are in the Divine Proceeding, for the universal 
angelic heaven is the Divine Proceeding of the Lord. 
An angel is not an angel from anything of his own, but 
from the Divine principle which he receives from the 



36 THE. ATHANASIAN CREED. 

Lord ; hence the angels are in the Lord, and therefore, 
when they think of God, they cannot think of any other 
than of the Lord, in whom they are, and from whom they 
think.. Besides this, the universal angelic heaven is in 
its complex before the Lord as one Man, who may be 
called the Grand Man ; wherefore the angels in heaven 
are in the Man, who is, as was said, the Divine Proceed- 
ing of the Lord. And since their thoughts have a 
direction according to the form of heaven, therefore when 
they think of God, they cannot think otherwise than of 
the Lord. In a word, all the angels of the three heavens 
think of God as of Man, nor can they think otherwise, for 
if they were disposed to do so, thought would cease, and 
they would fall from heaven. Hence then it is, that it is 
implanted in every spirit, and also in every man, when he 
is in the idea of his spirit, to think of God as Man. 

21. It was in consequence of this implanted principle, 
that the most ancient people, to a greater degree than 
their posterity, worshipped God as visible under a human 
form. That they also saw God as Man, the Word tes- 
tifies, as of Adam, that he heard the voice of Jehovah 
walking in the garden ; of Moses, that he spake with 
Jehovah face to face ; of Abraham, that he saw Jehovah 
in the midst of three angels ; and that Lot spoke with 
two of them. Jehovah was also seen as Man by Hagar, 
by Gideon, by Joshua, by Daniel as the Ancient of Days, 
and as the Son of Man. In like manner, He was seen 
by John, as the Son of Man in the midst of the seven 
candlesticks, and also by the other prophets. That it 
was the Lord who was seen by them, He himself teaches 
where He says, " That Abraham rejoiced to see His day, 
and that he saw it and was glad " (John viii. 56) : also, 
" That He was before Abraham was 1 ' (yer. 58): "and 



THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 37 

that He was before the world was " (John xvii. 5, 24). 
The reason that it was not the Father but the Son, who 
was seen, is, because the Divine Esse, which is the 
Father, cannot be seen except through the Divine Exis- 
tere, which is the Divine Human principle. That the 
Divine Esse, which is called the Father, was not seen, 
the Lord also teaches in John : " The Father Himself 
who hath sent Me, He hath borne witness of Me ; je 
have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His 
shape " (ver. 37) : again : " Not that any one hath seen 
the Father, save He who is of God, He hath seen the 
Father" (vi. 46): and again: " No one hath seen God 
at any time, the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom 
of the Father^ He hath brought Him forth to view" 
(i. 18). From these passages it is evident that the Divine 
Esse, which is the Father, was not seen by the ancients, 
nor could be seen, and yet that it was seen by means of 
the Divine Existere, which is the Son. Because the esse 
is in its existere, as the soul is in its body, therefore he 
who sees the Divine Existere or Son, sees also the Divine 
Esse or Father, which the Lord confirms in these words : 
" Philip said, Lord, show us the Father : Jesus said unto 
him, Have I been so long time with you, and hast thou 
not known Me, Philip ? he who hath seen Me, hath seen 
the Father ; how say est thou then, Show us the Father? " 
(John xiv. 8, 9). From these words it is plain, that the 
Lord is the Divine Existere, in which is the Divine Esse ; 
thus that He is the God -Man, who was seen by the 
ancients. From what has been adduced it follows that 
the Word is also to be understood according to the sense 
of the letter, when it says that God has a face, that He 
has eyes and ears, and that He has hands and feet. 
22. Since the idea of God as Man is implanted in every 



38 THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 

one, therefore several peoples and nations have worshipped 
as gods those who were either men or appeared to them 
as men; as Greece, Italy, and some kingdoms under 
their power, worshipped Saturn, Jupiter, Neptune, Pluto, 
Apollo, Mercury, Juno, Minerva, Diana, Yenus and 
her son, and others, ascribing to them the government 
of the universe. The reason that they distributed the 
Divinity into so many persons was, that it was from a 
principle implanted in them that they saw God as Man, 
and therefore saw all the attributes, properties, and 
qualities of God, thence also the virtues, affections, 
inclinations, and sciences, as persons. It was from this 
implanted principle that the inhabitants of the lands 
round about Canaan, and likewise of the regions within 
it, worshipped Baalim, Astoroth, Beelzebub, Chemosh, 
Milcolm, Molech, and others, several of whom had lived 
as men. It is again from this implanted principle that 
at this day, in the heathenism of the Christian world, 
saints are worshipped as gods, men kneeling before their 
statues and embracing them, baring their heads before 
them in the roads where they are set up, and offering 
them adoration at their tombs, doing this even in the 
case of the Pope, whose very shoes they press with their 
lips, some of them even kissing his footsteps, and he would 
too have been saluted as a god, if religion had allowed 
it. These and several other practices arise from this 
implanted principle, that men naturally wish to worship 
a God whom they see, and not an airy something, which 
they regard as mere vapor. But the idea of God as Man, 
which flows into the mind from heaven, is with many 
so far perverted that either an ordinary man or an idol 
is worshipped instead of God ; just as the bright light of 
the sun is turned into unseemly colors, and his summer 



THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 39 

heat into offensive odors, according to the objects upon 
which they fall. Bat it is from the causes above ad- 
duced, that the idea of God becomes the idea of a little 
cloud, of a mist, or of the inmost principle of nature; 
it exists amongst Christians, but rarely amongst other 
nations who enjoy any light of reason, as amongst the 
Africans and some others. 

23. That God is Man and that the Lord is that Man, 
is manifest from all things which are in the heavens, and 
which are beneath the heavens. In the heavens, all 
things which proceed from the Lord, in their greatest 
and in their smallest parts, are either in a human form, 
or have reference to it. The universal heaven is in a 
human form, so also is every society of heaven, ever}' 
angel is so, and every spirit beneath the heavens. It 
has also been revealed to me that all things both least 
and greatest, which proceed immediately from the Lord, 
are in that form; for what proceeds from God is a 
resemblance of Him. Hence it is, that it is said of Adam 
and Eve, that they were " created into the image and 
likeness of God." (Gen. i. 26, 27.) Hence also it is, 
that the angels in the heavens, because they are recipients 
of the Divine principle which proceeds from the Lord, 
are men of astonishing beauty ; whereas the spirits in 
the hells, because they do not receive the Divine prin- 
ciple which proceeds from the Lord, are devils, who in 
the light of heaven, do not appear as men, but as mon- 
sters. It i sowing to this circumstance that every one in 
the spiritual world is known from his human form, which 
is in proportion to his derivation from the Lord. Hence 
then it may be manifest, that the Lord is the only Man, 
and that every one is a man according to the reception 
of divine good and divine truth from Him. In fine, he 



40 THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 

who sees God as Man, sees God, because he sees the 
Lord. The Lord also says, " He who seeth the Son, and 
believeth in Him, hath eternal life" (John vi. 40) ; to 
see the Son is to see Him with the spirit, because it is 
said also with regard to those who have not seen Him in 
the world. 

24. It was said that the Lord is the only Man, and 
that all are men according to the reception of the divine 
good and the divine truth from Him. The reason that 
the Lord is the only Man is, that He is the life itself; 
but all other men, because they are men from Him, are 
recipients of life. The distinction between the Man who 
is life, and the man who is a recipient of life, is like that 
which subsists between the Uncreate and that which is 
created, and between the Infinite and the finite, which 
distinction is such that it admits of no ratio. For there 
is no ratio given between the Infinite and the finite, 
thus there is no ratio between God as Man, and another 
being as a man, whether he is an angel or a spirit, or a 
man in the world. That the Lord is life, He himself 
teaches in John : " The Word was with God, and God 
was the Word, in Him was life, and the life was the 
light of men, and the Word was made flesh " (i. 1, 4, 14) ; 
again : " As the Father hath life in Himself, so hath 
He given to the Son to have life in Himself" (v. 26); 
again : "As the living Father hath sent Me, and I live 
by the Father " (vi. 57) ; again : "lam the resurrection 
and the life " (xi. 25) ; again : "lam the way, the truth, 
and the life" (xiv. 6). Inasmuch as the Lord is life, 
therefore, in other passages of the Word, He is called 
the Bread of Life, the Light of Life, and the Tree of Life ; 
also, the Alive and Living God. Since He is life, and 
every man is a recipient of life from Him, therefore He 



THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 41 

also teaches that He gives life and quickens ; as in John : 
" As the Father quickeneth, so also the Son quickeneth " 
(v. 21) ; again : " I am the bread of God which cometh 
down from heaven, and giveth life to the world " (vi. 83) ; 
again: "Because I live, ye shall live also" (xiv. 19); 
and in many passages, that He giveth life to those who 
believe in Him: hence also God is called "a Fountain 
of Life " (Psalm xxxvi. 9) ; and in other places, Creator, 
Maker, Former, and Potter, and we the clay, and the work 
of His hands. Because God is life, it follows that in 
Him ive live, move, and have our being. 

25. Life viewed in itself, which is God, cannot create 
another being that shall be life itself; for the life which 
is God is uncreate, continuous, and inseparable; hence 
it is that God is one. But the life which is God can 
create, out of substances which are not life, forms in 
which it can exist, giving them the appearance as if they 
lived. Men are such forms, which, as being receptacles 
of life, could not in the first creation be anything but 
images and likenesses of God ; images from the reception 
of truth, and likenesses from the reception of good. For 
life and its recipient adapt themselves to each other, like 
active and passive, but do not mix together. Hence it is 
that human forms which are recipient of life, do not live 
from themselves, but from God who alone is life; where- 
fore, as is well known, all the good of love and all the 
truth of faith are from God, and nothing from man. For 
if man had the smallest portion of life as his own, he 
would have been able to will and to do good from him- 
self, to understand also and to believe truth from 
himself, and thus to claim merit ; when yet, if he be- 
lieves this, the form recipient of life then closes itself 
above, is perverted, and intelligence perishes. Good and 



42 THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 

its love together with truth and its faith are the life 
which is God, for God is good itself and truth itself; 
wherefore God dwells in those principles with man. 
From these considerations it also follows that man of 
himself is nothing, and that he is just so much as he 
receives from the Lord, and at the same time acknow- 
ledges that what he receives is not his own but the 
Lord's ; the Lord then causes him to be something, 
although not from himself but from the Lord. 

26. It appears to man as if he lived from himself, but 
it is a fallacy ; for if it were not a fallacy, man would 
have been able to love God from himself, and to be wise 
from himself. The reason that it appears as if life were 
in man is, that it enters by influx from the Lord into his 
inmost principles, which are remote from the sight of his 
thought, and thus from perception ; and further that the 
principal cause which is life, and the instrumental cause 
which is recipient of life, act together as one cause, and 
this action is felt in the instrumental cause, and thus in 
man as if it were in himself. The case in this respect is 
precisely similar to the sensation that light is in the eye, 
and gives birth to sight ; that sound is in the ear, and 
gives birth to hearing ; that the volatile parts in the air 
are in the nostril, and give birth to smell ; and that the 
particles of food turning over upon the tongue give birth 
to taste ; when yet the eyes, the ears, the nostrils, and the 
tongue are recipient organized substances, thus instru- 
mental causes; whilst light, sound, the volatile parti- 
cles in the air, and the particles turning over upon the 
tongue, are the principal causes ; and these causes — 
the instrumental and the principal — act together as one 
cause. That is called principal which acts, and that 
instrumental which suffers itself to be acted upon. He 



THE ATHANAS1AN CREED. 43 

who examines the subject more deeply, may know that 
man, as to all the collective and single things that belong 
to him, is an organ of life, and that that which produces 
sensation and perception enters by influx from an extra- 
neous source, and that it is the life itself which causes 
man to feel and perceive as if from himself. Another 
reason that it appears as if life were in man is, that the 
divine love is such, that it desires to communicate to man 
that which belongs to itself, but still it teaches that it is 
not man's own. The Lord also wills that man should 
think and will, and thence should speak and act, as if 
from himself, but that still he should acknowledge that 
it is not from himself, otherwise he cannot be reformed. 

27. If it is said and thought that life itself is God, or 
that God is life itself, and there is at the same time no 
idea of what life is, there is in that case, no intelligence 
of what • God is, beyond those expressions. In the 
thought of man there are two ideas, one abstract, which 
is spiritual, and one not abstract, which is natural. The 
abstract idea, which is spiritual, concerning the life 
which is God is, that it is love itself, and that it is wis- 
dom itself, and that the love is from wisdom, and the 
wisdom from love. But the idea not abstract, which is 
natural, concerning the life which is God is, that His 
love is as fire, and His wisdom as light, and that the 
two together are as a bright radiance. This natural idea 
is derived from correspondence, for fire corresponds to 
love, and light corresponds to wisdom ; and therefore in 
the Word fire signifies love, and light signifies wisdom. 
When again a sermon is preached from the Word, there 
is also prayer offered up that heavenly fire may warm 
the heart, in which case is meant the divine love; and 
that heavenly light may enlighten the mind, in which 



44 THE ATHANASIAN CEEED. 

case is meant the divine" wisdom. The divine love 
which in the divine wisdom is life itself, which is God, 
cannot be conceived of in its essence, for it is infinite, 
and thus transcends human apprehension; but it may 
be conceived of in its appearance. The Lord appears 
before the eyes of the angels as a sun, from which pro- 
ceed heat and light; the sun is the divine love, the heat 
is the divine love proceeding, which is called the divine 
good, and the light is the divine wisdom proceeding, 
which is called the divine truth. But still we are not 
permitted to have an idea of the life which is God, as of 
fire, or heat, or light, unless there is in it at the same 
time an idea of love and wisdom, thus that the divine 
love is as fire, and that the divine wisdom is as light, and 
that the divine love together with the divine wisdom is 
as a bright radiance. For God is perfect Man, in face 
and in body like Man, there being no difference as to 
form, but as to essence. His essence is, that He is love 
itself and wisdom itself, thus life itself. 

28. We can have no idea of the life which is God, 
unless we also obtain an idea of the degrees through 
which life descends from its inmost principles to' its 
ultimates. There is an inmost degree of life, and there 
is an ultimate degree of life, and there are intermediate 
degrees of it. The distinction between them is like that 
between things prior and posterior, for a posterior degree 
exists from a prior, and so forth ; and the difference 
between them is like that between things less and more 
common, for what is of a prior degree, is less common, 
and what is of a posterior degree, is more so. Such de- 
grees of life are in every man from creation, and they 
are opened according to his reception of life from the 
Lord ; in some men the degree next to the ultimate is 



THE ATHAN ASIAN CREED. 45 

opened, in some the middle degree, and in some the 
inmost. The men in whom the inmost degree is opened, 
become after death angels of the inmost or third heaven ; 
those in whom the middle degree is opened, become after 
death angels of the middle or second heaven ; but those 
in whom the degree next to the ultimate is opened, be- 
come after death angels of the ultimate heaven. These 
degrees are called the degrees of the life of man, but 
thej are the degrees of his wisdom and love, because 
they are opened according to his reception of wisdom 
and love, thus of life from the Lord. Such degrees of 
life are also in every organ, in each of the viscera and 
members of the body, and they act in unity with the 
degrees of life in the brains by means of influx; the 
skins, the cartilages, and the bones, constituting their 
ultimate degree. The reason that there are such degrees 
in man is, that such are the degrees of the life which 
proceeds from the Lord ; but in the Lord they are life, 
whereas in man they are recipients of life. It should 
however be known that in the Lord there are degrees 
still higher, and that all of them both the highest and 
the ultimate are life, for the Lord teaches that He is the 
life, and likewise that He has flesh and bones. But con- 
cerning these degrees, and concerning continuous degrees, 
see the work on Heaven and Hell n. 33, 34, 38, 39, 208, 
209, 211, 425, where they are more fully described; a 
knowledge of them should be drawn from this source, 
on account of its use in what follows. 

29. Because God is life, it follows that he is uncreated ; 
the reason that he is uncreated is, that life cannot be 
created, although it can create. For to be created is to 
exist from another, and if life existed from another, there 
would be another being that would be life, and this life 



46 THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 

would be life in itself. And if this first being were not 
life in itself, it would be either from another being or 
from itself, and life from itself cannot be predicated, 
because from itself involves origin, and this origin would 
be from nothing, and from* nothing nothing originates. 
This first Being, who is underived being in Himself, and 
the source from whom all things were created, is God, 
who, from underived being in Himself, is called Jenovah. 
Reason, especially if it is enlightened by means of created 
objects, is able to see that the case is so. Now since 
underived being is not underived being unless it is also 
self-existent, hence esse and existere in God are one ; for 
while He is underived being, He is self- existent, and while 
He is self-existent, He is underived being. This there- 
fore — the union of the esse with the existere — is the life it- 
self, or the essential life, which is God, and which is Man. 
30. That all things derive their being from the life it- 
self which is God, and which is Man, may be illustrated 
from man who was created ; he being a man as to his 
ultimate, his middle, and his inmost principles. For the 
man, who in the world was merely corporeal as to his 
life, thus, of dull perceptions, appears still in the spiritual 
world, after the rejection of the material body, as a man. 
The man, who in the world was merely sensual or natural 
as to his life, thus who knew little about heaven, although 
much about the world, still appears after death as a man. 
The man who in the world was rational as to his life, thus 
who thought well from natural light, appears after death, 
when he becomes a spirit, as a man. The man who in 
the world was spiritual as to his life, appears after death, 
when he becomes an angel, as a man, perfect according 
to his reception of life from the Lord. The man, with 
whom the third degree was opened, thus who in the 



THE ATHANASIAN* CREED. 47 

world was celestial as to his life, appears after death, 
when he becomes an angel, as a man in all perfection. 
The very life belonging to him is a man, both the sensual 
and the natural, as well as the rational, the spiritual, and 
the celestial, for so the degrees of life are called ; but the 
man, in whom they exist, is only a recipient. And as it 
is in .the smallest types, so it is in the greatest. The 
universal angelic heaven is in every complex a man ; 
each heaven by itself, the first, the second, and third, is a 
man ; every society in the heavens, greater or less, is a 
man ; even the church in the world in general is a man ; 
all congregations also which are called churches, are, by 
themselves, men. By the church are meant all men with 
whom the church is, in the complex : so the church in 
the world appears to the angels of heaven, and the ground 
of this appearance is, that the life which is from the Lord 
is a man. . Life from the Lord is love and wisdom ; hence 
such as is the reception of love and wisdom from the 
Lord, such is the man. These things first testify, that all 
things were created from the life which is God, and which 
is Man. 

31. That all things are from the life itself, which is 
God, and which is wisdom and love, may also be illus- 
trated by means of created objects, when they are viewed 
from order. For it is from order that the angelic 
heavens, consisting of thousands and thousands of 
societies, act in unity, by means of love to the Lord and 
towards the neighbor, and that they are kept in order by 
means of divine truths, which are the laws of order. It 
is again from order that the hells beneath them, which 
are also distinguished into thousands and thousands of 
congregations, are kept in order by means of judgments 
and punishments ; so that although they are hatreds and 



48 THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 

insanities, still they cannot occasion the least mischief to 
the heavens. It is also from order, that there is between 
the heavens and the hells the equilibrium, in which man 
is in the world, and in which he is led, if by the Lord, to 
heaven, if by himself, to hell ; for it is a law of order, 
that man shall act, in all that he does, from freedom 
according to reason. Since so many myriads of myriads 
of men, from the creation of the world, have been pouring 
in both to heaven and hell, and are perpetually pouring in 
streams, each individual too being of a dissimilar genius 
and love, it would have been utterly impossible for them 
to be consociated together into one, unless God were one, 
who is life itself, which life is wisdom itself and love 
itself, and thence order itself. These observations have 
been made respecting heaven. But in the natural world 
the divine order is apparent from the sun, the moon, the 
stars, and the planets. The sun, to appearance, causes 
years, days, and hours, the seasons of the year also, which 
are spring, summer, autumn, and winter ; the divisions 
again of the d&y. which are morning, noon, evening, and 
night. He animates all things of the earth, according to 
the reception of his heat in conjunction with his light, and 
of his light in conjunction with his heat. According to 
his reception he also opens, disposes, and prepares the 
living bodies and the material substances, which are in 
and upon the earth, to receive influx from the spiritual 
world. Hence, in the time of spring, through the union 
of heat and light, the fowls of heaven and the beasts of 
the earth return to the love of propagating their species, 
and to the knowledge of all things belonging to it. The 
vegetables too return to their efforts and activities in 
producing leaves, flowers, and fruits, and in them the 
seeds for perpetuating their kind for ever and multiplying 



THE ATHAN ASIAN CREED. 49 

it to infinity. It is from order again that the earth 
produces vegetables, and that these supply the animals 
with sustenance, while both the one and the other yield 
for the use of man, food, clothing, and pleasure; and 
since man is the creature in whom God dwells, they in 
this way return to God, from whom all things thus 
proceed. From these considerations it is evident, that 
created things succeed each other in such order, that one 
exists for the sake of another ; that they are perpetual 
ends which are uses, and that ends which are uses are in 
constant circulation, that they may return to God from 
whom they derive their being. These things then testify 
that all things were created from the life itself, which is 
God, and which is wisdom itself; and they further testify 
that the universe of creation is full of God. 

32. Because God is uncreated, He is also eternal ; for 
the life itself, which is. God, is life in itself, not from 
itself, or from nothing ; thus it is without origin ; and 
that which is without origin, is from eternity, and is eter- 
nal. But an idea of anything without origin cannot exist 
with the natural man, thus neither can the idea of God 
from eternity ; but it exists with the spiritual man. The 
thought of the natural man cannot be separated and with- 
drawn from the idea of time, for this idea is inherent in 
it from nature, in which it is ; so neither can it be 
separated and withdrawn from the idea of origin, because 
origin is to it a beginning in time ; the appearance of the 
sun's progress has impressed on the natural man this idea. 
But the thought of the spiritual man, because it is elevated 
above nature, is withdrawn from the idea of time, and 
instead of this idea there is the idea of a state of life, and 
instead of duration of time, there is a state of thought 
derived from affection which constitutes life. For the 

3 



50 THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 

sun in the angelic heaven neither rises nor sets, nor does 
it cause years and days, like the sun in the world ; hence 
it is that the angels of heaven, because they are in spiri- 
tual ideas, think abstractedly from time. Wherefore 
their idea of God from eternity does not derive anything 
from origin, or from beginning, but from the state of his 
being eternal, thus that everything which is God, and 
which proceeds from God, is eternal, that is, divine in 
itself. That this is the case I have been permitted to 
perceive by an elevation above the natural idea into the 
spiritual. From these considerations it is now evident, 
that God. who is uncreated, is also eternal ; that it is also 
impossible to think that nature is from eternity, or in 
time from itself, but that it is possible to think that God 
is from eternity, and that nature together with time is 
from God. 

33. Since God is eternal, He is also infinite; but as 
there is a natural idea as well as a spiritual idea of what 
is eternal, so is there likewise of what is infinite. The 
natural idea of what is eternal is tajten from time, but 
the spiritual idea of it is not so ; the natural idea also of 
what is infinite is taken from space, but the spiritual idea 
of it is not so. For as life is not nature, so the two 
properties of nature, which are times and spaces, are not 
properties of life, for they were created with nature from 
the life which is God. The natural idea of the infinite 
God, which is from space, is that He fills the universe 
from end to end ; but from this idea concerning the 
infinite the thought arises, that the inmost principle of 
nature is God, and thus that it is extended, whereas 
everything extended belongs to matter. Thus because 
the natural idea does not at all agree with the idea of 
life, consisting of wisdom and love, which is God, there- 



THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 51 

fore the infinite must be viewed from the spiritual idea, 
in which, as there is nothing of time, so there is nothing 
of space, because there is nothing of nature. It is from 
a spiritual idea, that the divine love is infinite, and that 
the divine wisdom is infinite ; and since the divine love 
and the divine wisdom are the life which is God, there- 
fore the divine life is also infinite ; and hence God is 
infinite. That the divine wisdom is infinite may be 
evident from the wisdom of the angels of the third 
heaven ; for since they excel the others in wisdom, they 
perceive that there is no ratio given between their wisdom 
and the divine wisdom of the Lord, because there is no 
ratio given between infinite and finite. They say also 
that the first degree of wisdom is to see and acknowledge 
that this is the case ; it is similar with the divine love. 
Moreover the angels are, like men, forms recipient of 
life, thus recipient of wisdom and love from the Lord, 
and these forms are from substances which are without 
life, thus in themselves dead; and between what is dead 
and what is alive there is no ratio given. But how what 
is finite receives what is infinite may be illustrated from 
the light and heat of the sun of the world ; the light and 
the heat from the sun are not themselves material, but 
still they affect material substances, the light by modify- 
ing them, and the heat by changing their states. The 
divine wisdom of the Lord is light, and the divine love 
of the Lord is also heat, but the heat and light are 
spiritual, because they proceed from the Lord as a sun, 
which is divine love, and at the same time divine wisdom. 
But the light and heat from the sun of the world are 
natural, because that sun is fire and not love. 

34. Because God is infinite, He is also omnipotent; 
for omnipotence is infinite power. The omnipotence of 



52 THE ATH AN ASIAN CREED. 

God shines forth from the universe, which is the visible 
heaven and the habitable globe, and these, together with 
all things in heaven and on the earth, are the great works 
of the Omnipotent Creator. Their creation and preser- 
vation testify that they proceed from divine omnipotence, 
whilst their order and mutual respect to ends, from first 
to last, testify that they proceed from divine wisdom. 
The omnipotence of God shines forth also from the 
heaven which is above or within our visible heaven, and 
from the globe there, which is inhabited by angels, as 
ours is by men. There are there stupendous testimonies 
to the divine omnipotence, which, because they have 
been seen by me and revealed to me, I am permitted to 
mention. There are there all the men who have died 
since the first creation of the world, and who after death 
also are men as to form, but spirits as to essence. Spirits 
are affections originating in love, and thus also thoughts ; 
the spirits of heaven are affections of the love of good, 
and the spirits of hell affections of the love of evil. The 
good affections, which are angels, dwell upon a globe 
which is called heaven, and the evil affections, which are 
spirits of hell, dwell at a great depth beneath them. The 
globe is one, but divided as it were into expanses, one 
below the other. There are six expanses ; in the highest 
dwell the angels of the third heaven, beneath them the 
angels of the second, and beneath these the angels of the 
first. Below these again dwell the spirits of the first 
hell, beneath them the spirits of the second, and beneath 
these the spirits of the third. All things are arranged in 
such regular order, that the evil affections, which are 
spirits of hell, are held in bonds by the good affections, 
which are angels of heaven ; the spirits of the lowest 
hell by the angels of the highest heaven, the spirits of 



THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 53 

the middle hell by the angels of the middle heaven, and 
the spirits of the first hell by the angels of the first 
heaven. From such opposition the affections are kept 
in equilibrium, as in the scales of a balance. Such 
heavens and hells are innumerable ; they are divided 
into assemblies and societies, according to the genera and 
species of all the affections there, and the affections of 
one are arranged in order and connexion, according to 
. the nearer or more remote affinities to those of another. 
The case is the same in the hells as in the heavens. This 
order and connexion of the affections are known to the 
Lord alone, and the arranging of the various affections — 
as numerous as the men who have been in existence from 
the first creation, and will be hereafter — is the work of 
infinite wisdom, and at the same time of infinite power. 
That the divine power is infinite, or that it is omnipo- 
tence, is clearly evident from this circumstance in the 
other world, that neither the angels of heaven nor the 
devils of hell have any power whatever from themselves ; 
if they had the least portion, heaven would fall to pieces, 
hell would become a chaos, and with "them every man 
would perish. 

35. The reason that all power belongs to God, and 
none whatever to man or angel is, that God alone is life, 
men and angels being only recipients of life, and that it 
is the life which acts, the recipient of life being acted upon. 
Every one may see that a recipient of life cannot act at 
all from itself, but that its action is from the life which is 
God ; nevertheless, it can act as if from itself; for this 
power can be given to it; that it also has been given, 
was said above. If man does not live from himself, it 
follows that he does not think and will from himself, nor 
speak and act from himself, but from God, who alone is 



54 THE ATHANASIAN" CREED. 

life. That this is the case appears as a paradox, because 
man has no other sensation than that these powers are in 
himself, and thus are used by himself; but still he 
acknowledges, when he speaks from a principle of»faith, 
that everything good and true is from God, and every- 
thing evil and false from the devil ; and yet, whatever a 
man thinks, wills, speaks, and does, has reference either 
to what is good and true, or to what is evil and false. 
Hence it is, that a man says to himself, or the priest of 
the church says with reference to him, when he does 
good, that he is led of God, and when he does evil, that 
he is led of the devil. The preacher also prays that his 
thought, his discourse, and his tongue, may be led by 
the spirit of God, sometimes also he affirms after preach- 
ing, that he spoke from the spirit. Other men also have 
within them the same perception. I can also myself 
testify before the world, that all things connected with 
my thought and will have entered by influx, goods and 
truths through heaven from the Lord, and evils and 
falses from hell ; for I have for a long time been per- 
mitted to perceive it. The angels of the superior heavens 
distinctly perceive the influx, the wisest of them not 
being willing to think and will even as if from them- 
selves. But, on the other hand, infernal genii and spirits 
altogether deny it, and are angry when it is spoken of. 
It has nevertheless been pointed out to numbers of them, 
to a living demonstration, that the case is so: they were 
however only indignant afterwards. Because, however, 
this subject appears as a paradox to many, it is of im- 
portance that it should be seen, from some idea of the 
understanding, how the influx is effected, in order that its 
existence maj^ be acknowledged. The nature of the case 
is as follows : from the divine love of the Lord, which 



THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 55 

appears in the angelic heaven as a sun, proceed light and 
heat; the light is the life of His divine wisdom, and the 
heat is the life of His divine love. This spiritual heat 
which is love, and this spiritual light which is wisdom, 
enter by influx into subjects which are recipient of life, 
just as natural heat and light from the sun of the world 
enter by influx into subjects which are not recipient of 
life. And because light only modifies the substances into 
which it so enters, and heat only changes their state, it 
follows, that if these subjects were animated, they would 
feel the changes in themselves, and suppose that they 
were from themselves, when nevertheless they both retire 
and return with the sun. Now, since the life of the 
divine wisdom of the Lord is light, therefore the Lord in 
many passages of the Word is called light, and it is said 
in John : " The Word was with God, and God was the 
Word; in Him was life, and the life was the light of 
men." (i. 1, 2, 3.) From these considerations it is now 
evident, that God has infinite power, because He is the 
all with all men (pmnis apud omnes). But how an evil 
man can think, will, speak, and do evil, when God alone 
is life, will be shown in what follows. 

36. Since such is the divine omnipotence, that man 
cannot of himself think and will, and thence speak and 
act, but from the life which is God, the question arises 
why every man is not saved. But he who concludes 
from this that every one is saved, or if not, that he is not 
in fault, is ignorant of the laws of divine order respecting 
man's reformation, regeneration, and consequent salva- 
tion. The laws of this order are called the laws of the 
divine providence, and of these the natural mind can have 
no knowledge, unless it is enlightened. And because 
man has no knowledge of them, and thus forms his con- 



56 THE ATHAK ASIAN CREED. 

elusions concerning the divine providence from contin- 
gencies in the world, and by these means falls into 
fallacies and thence into errors, from which he afterwards 
with difficulty extricates himself, they must therefore be 
brought to light. But before they are brought to light, 
it is of importance that it should be known, that the 
divine providence operates in all the several things which 
belong to man, even in the most minute of them all, for 
his eternal salvation : his salvation having been the end 
of the creation both of heaven and earth. For the end 
was, that out of the human race might be formed heaven, 
in which God might dwell, as in his own special abode, 
and therefore the salvation of man is the all in all of the 
Divine Providence. But the Divine Providence proceeds 
so secretly, that man scarcely sees a vestige of it, and yet 
it is active in the most minute particulars relating to him, 
from infancy to old age in the world, and afterwards to 
eternity ; and in every one of them it is eternity which it 
regards. Because the divine wisdom in itself is nothing 
but an end, providence therefore acts from an end, in an 
end, and with reference to an end ; the end being that 
man may become wisdom and love, and thus the dwell- 
ing-place and the image of the divine life. But because 
the natural mind, unless it is enlightened, does not com- 
prehend why the Divine Providence, when it is the only 
agent in the work of salvation, and in the most minute 
particulars relating to the progress of man's life, does not 
lead all men to heaven — though from love it is willing so 
to lead them, and is omnipotence — therefore, in what 
now follows, the laws of order, which are the laws of the 
Divine Providence, shall be opened, and by their means 
I hope the mind previously unenlightened will be with- 
drawn from its fallacies, if it is willing to be so. 



THE ATHANASLO" CREED. 57 

37. The laws of order, which are called the laws of the 
Divine Providence, are the following : 

I. That man should have no other feeling or percep- 
tion, or knowledge derived from his senses, than that he 
is endowed with life in such a way that he thinks and 
wills, and thence speaks and acts, from himself; but 
should nevertheless acknowledge and believe that the 
truths which he thinks and speaks, and the goods which 
he wills and does, are from the Lord, and are thus as if 
from himself. 

II. That man should act, in whatever he does, from 
freedom according to reason, but should still acknowledge 
and believe that he derives the freedom itself from the 
Lord ; in like manner his reason regarded in itself, which 
is called rationality. 

III. That to think and speak truth, and to will and do 
good from freedom according to reason, are not from man 
himself, but from the Lord ; and that to think and speak 
falsity, and to will and do evil from freedom, are not from 
man himself, but from hell; in such a way, however, 
that the falsity and the evil are from that source, but the 
freedom regarded in itself, and the faculty of thinking, of 
willing, of speaking, and of acting, regarded in itself, are 
from the Lord. 

IV. That the understanding and the will of man should 
not be in the least degree compelled by another, since all 
compulsion by another takes away freedom; but that 
man should compel himself, for to compel himself is to 
act from freedom. 

V. That man should not know, from any sense or per- 
ception within himself, how good and truth enter by in- 
flux from the Lord, or how evil and falsity enter by influx 
from hell ; nor see how the Divine Providence operates 

3* 



58 THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 

in favor of good against evil ; for in this case he would 
not act from freedom according to reason, as if from him- 
self; it is sufficient that he knows and acknowledges 
these things from the Word and from the doctrine of the 
church. 

YI. That man should not be reformed by external 
means, but by internal. By external means are meant 
miracles and visions, fears and punishments ; by internal 
means, truths and goods derived from the Word and 
from the doctrine of the church, and also looking to the 
Lord ; for these means enter by an internal way, and re- 
move the evils and falsities which reside within ; but 
external means enter by an external way, and do not 
remove the evils and falsities, but shut them in. Man is 
however further reformed by external means, when he 
has been first reformed by internal ; but a man who is 
not reformed is only withheld by external means, which 
are fears and punishments, from speaking and doing the 
evils and falsities which he thinks and wills. 

VII. That man is admitttd into the truths of faith and 
the goods of love which are derived from the Lord, only 
so far as he can be kept in them to the end of his life ; for 
it is better that he should be constantly evil, than that 
he should be good and afterwards evil, since he thus 
becomes profane. The permission of evil is principally 
from this ground. 

VIII. That the Lord is continually withdrawing man 
from evils, so far as man from freedom is willing to be 
withdrawn. That so far as man can be withdrawn from 
evils, he is so far led by the Lord to good, and thus to 
heaven ; but so far as he cannot be withdrawn from them, 
he cannot so far be led by the Lord to good, and thus to 
heaven ; for so far as he is withdrawn from evils, he so 



THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 59 

far does good from the Lord, which in itself is good ; but 
so far as he is not withdrawn from them, he so far does 
good from himself, which has in it evil. 

IX. That the Lord does not, without the use of means, 
teach man truths, either from Himself or through the 
angels, but that He teaches by means derived from the 
Word, from preaching and reading, from conversation 
and intercourse with others, and thus from private reflec- 
tions arising out of them; and that man is then enlightened 
according to his affection for truth grounded in use ; 
otherwise he would not act as if from himself. 

X. That man from his own prudence has led himself 
to eminence and opulence, when they lead astray ; for he 
is led of the Divine Providence to such things as do not 
lead as ray, but are serviceable with regard to eternal life: 
for all the dealings of the Divine Providence in relation 
to him regard what is eternal, because the life which is 
Grod and from which man is man, is eternal. 

38. From the above it is evident that the Lord can 
lead man to heaven only by these laws, although He has 
divine love from which He wills, and divine wisdom 
from which He knows, all things, and divine power, 
which is omnipotence, from which He can effect what He 
wills. For these laws are the laws of order respecting 
reformation and regeneration, thus respecting the salva- 
tion of man ; and against them the Lord cannot act, 
because to act against them would be to act against His 
own wisdom and love, thus against Himself. The first 
law, that man from sense and perception shall have no 
other knowledge than that he is endowed with life, but 
shall still acknowledge that the goods and truths originat- 
ing in love and faith, which he thinks, wills, speaks, and 
does, are not from himself but from the Lord, presupposes 



60 THE ATHAN ASIAN CKEED. 

the second, that man has freedom, and that it is also to 
appear as his own ; that he is however to acknowledge 
that it is not so, but that it. belongs to the Lord in con- 
nexion with him. This law follows from the former, 
because freedom makes one with life ; for without free- 
dom man could not feel or perceive that he has life as it 
were inherent in himself, this being felt and perceived 
from freedom. For from freedom it appears to man, that 
every action of his life as it were belongs to him, and is 
his own ; freedom being the power of thinking, of willing, 
of speaking, and of doing, from himself, but in this case, 
it is as if from himself. And chiefly it is the power of 
willing; for a man says: "I have power for what I 
have will, and I have will for what I have power ; " 
that is, "I am in freedom." Who again cannot think 
from freedom that one thing is good and another evil ; 
or, that one thing is true and another false? freedom 
therefore was given to man together with his life, nor is 
it in any case taken from him. For so far as it is taken 
away or diminished, man so far feels and perceives that 
he does not really live, but that another lives in him ; 
and so far the delight of all things belonging to his life 
is taken away or diminished, for he becomes a slave. 
That man has no other knowledge from sense and per- 
ception, than that he is endowed with life, and that it is 
thus as it were his own, has no need of any further con- 
firmation than experience itself. For who has any other 
feeling or perception than that when he thinks, he thinks 
from himself, that when he wills, he wills from himself, 
and that when he speaks and acts, he speaks and acts 
from himself? Bat it is from a law of the Divine Provi- 
dence, that man is to have no other knowledge; since 
without this sense and perception, he could not receive 



THE ATHAN ASIAN CREED. 61 

or appropriate anything to himself, or produce anything 
from himself, thus he would not be a recipient of life, or 
an agent of life, from the Lord ; he would be like an 
automaton, or an image standing without understanding 
or will, his hands hanging down, in expectation of an 
influx, which would not be given. For life, in conse- 
quence of non-reception and non-appropriation as it were, 
on the part of man, would not be retained, but would be 
transfluent ; whence man, from being alive, would become 
as it were dead, and from being a rational soul, he would 
become irrational, thus either a brute or a stock. For he 
would be without the delight of life, the delight which 
every one has from reception, appropriation, and produc- 
tion, as if from himself; and yet the delight and the life 
act in unity, for take away all the delight of life, and you 
will become cold and die. If it were not from a law of 
the Divine Providence, that man should feel and per- 
ceive as if life and everything belonging to it were inhe- 
rent in him, and he were merely to acknowledge that 
good and truth are not derived from himself, but from 
the Lord, nothing would then be imputed to him, neither 
good nor truth, thus neither love nor faith. And if 
nothing were imputed to him, the Lord would not 
have commanded in the Word, that he should do good 
and shun evil, and that if he did good, heaven would be 
his inheritance, but if evil, hell would be his portion ; 
there would not even be either a heaven or a hell, because 
without that perception, man would not be man, and thus 
would not be the habitation of the Lord. For the Lord 
desires to be loved by man as if it were by man's own 
power ; thus the Lord dwells with him in that which is 
His own, that which He gave him for the sake of this 
end, that He may be reciprocally loved. For the divine 



62 THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 

love consists in this, that it desires that what belongs to 
itself should belong to man, which would not be the 
case, unless man felt and perceived that what is from the 
Lord is as if his own. If it were not from a divine law, 
that man from sense anH perception should have no other 
knowledge than that life is inherent in him. there would 
exist in him no end for the sake of which to act. This 
end is given with him, because the end from which he 
acts appears as if it were inherent in him ; the end from 
which he acts is his love, which is his life ; and the end 
for the sake of which he acts is the delight of his love or 
of his life, and the effect in which the end presents itself 
is use. The end for the sake of which he acts, which is 
the delight of his love or of his life, is felt and perceived 
in him, because the end from which he acts gives him 
the feeling and perception of it, which end is, as was said, 
his love, which is his life. But when a man acknow- 
ledges that all things belonging to his life proceed from 
the Lord, the Lord imparts delight and blessedness to his 
love, so far as he makes this acknowledgment, and per- 
forms uses. Thus whilst man, by acknowledgment and 
faith grounded in love as if from himself, ascribes to the 
Lord all things belonging to his life, the Lord, on the 
other hand, ascribes to man the good of his life, which is 
associated with every happiness and blessing. The Lord 
also permits him, from an interior principle, to have 
within him an exquisite feeling and perception of this 
good as his own, and the more exquisite in proportion as 
he wills from the heart that which he acknowledges in 
belief. The perception in this case is reciprocal ; for it 
is agreeable to the Lord from the consideration that He 
is in man, and man in him ; and it is pregnant with 
blessing to man from the consideration that he is in the 



THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 63 

Lord, and the Lord in him. Such is the union of the 
Lord with man, and of man with the Lord, by means of 
love. 

39. The reason that man feels and perceives as if life 
were inherent in him is, that the life of the Lord in him 
is as the light and heat of the sun in a subject. This 
light and heat do not belong to the subject, but to the 
sun in it, for they retire with the sun ; and when they 
are in the subject, they belong in appearance entirely to 
it, for from the light the color of the subject is as if 
inherent in it, and from the heat its life of vegetation is 
so also. But this is much more the case with the light 
and heat from the sun of the spiritual w r orld, which is the 
Lord, whose light and heat are the light and heat of 
life ; for the sun from which they proceed is the divine 
love of the Lord, and man is the recipient subject. This 
light and heat in no case recede from the recipient, and 
when they are present with him, they are to all appear- 
ance wholly his own ; from the light he has the facult}^ 
of understanding, and from the heat the faculty of will- 
ing. From the circumstances that the light and heat, 
although they are not his own, are as if wholly in the 
recipient, that they in no case recede from him, and that 
they affect his inmost principles, which are remote from 
the sight of his understanding and the perception of his 
will, it necessarily appears that they are implanted in 
him, that in this way they are as if inherent in him, and 
thus that their produce is from him. Hence then it is, 
that man has no other knowledge than that he thinks and 
wills from himself, though he does not do so in the small- 
est degree ; for thought and will cannot be so united to 
the recipient as to be his own, precisely as the light and 
heat of the sun cannot be united to a subject of the earth, 



64 THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 

and become, like it, material. But the light and heat of 
life affect and fill the recipient, precisely according to the 
quality of the acknowledgment that they are not his 
own, but the Lord's, and the quality of the acknowledg- 
ment is precisely according to the quality of the love in 
acting according to the commandments, which are uses. 

40. The third law of the Divine Providence is, That to 
think and speak truth, and to will and do good, from 
freedom according to reason, are not from man out from 
the Lord / and that to think and speak falsity, and to 
will and do evil from freedom, are not from man hut 
from hell / in such a manner however that the evil and 
the falsity are from that source, hut the freedom re- 
garded in itself, and the faculty of thinking, of willing, 
of speaking, and of acting, regarded in itself, are from 
the Lord. That all good that in itself is good, and all 
truth that in itself is truth, are not from man, but from 
the Lord, may be comprehended by the understanding 
from this consideration, that the light which proceeds 
from the Lord as a sun, is the divine truth of His divine 
wisdom, and that the heat which also proceeds from the 
Lord as a sun, is the divine good of His divine love ; and 
since man is the recipient of these, it follows, that all 
good which originates in love, and all truth which origi- 
nates in wisdom, are not from man but from the Lord. 
But that all evil and all falsity are not from man, but 
from hell, is a proposition which, not having before been 
generally recognized, has not been made an article of 
faith, like the proposition that good and truth are not 
from man. But that it is an appearance that evil and 
falsity are from man, and that, if it is believed, it is a fal- 
lacy, cannot be comprehended, until the nature of hell is 
known, and how it can enter by influx with evil and 



THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 65 

falsity on the one hand, as the Lord enters by influx 
with good and truth on the other. We shall therefore 
first show of whom hell consists, and what is its nature 
and origin ; in what manner also it enters by influx and 
acts against good, and thus in what manner man, who is 
intermediate between heaven and hell, is acted upon on 
either side as a mere recipient. 

41. First, then, it shall be shown of whom hell con- 
sists. Hell consists of spirits, who, when they were men 
in the world, denied a God, acknowledged nature, lived 
contrary to divine order, and loved evils and falsities, 
although, for the sake of appearance, such was not their 
conduct before the world. Hence they were either 
insane with regard to truths, or they despised and denied 
them, if not with the lips, still at heart : — of spirits who 
have been of this description since the creation of the 
world, hell consists. All such are there called either 
devils or satans ; devils, if the love of self predominated 
with them ; satans, if the love of the world. The hell 
inhabited by the devils is in the "Word meant by the 
term Devil, and the hell inhabited by the satans is there 
meant by the term Satan. The Lord also so conjoins 
the devils, that they are as it were one; in like manner 
also the satans ; hence it is, that the hells are called in 
the singular the Devil and Satan. Hell does not consist 
of spirits created such at once, nor does heaven consist 
of angels so created ; the former consists of men born in 
the world, who were made devils or satans by them- 
selves, and the latter in like manner consists of men 
born in the world, who were there made angels by the 
Lord. All men, as to the interiors which belong to their 
minds, are spirits, clothed in the world with a material 
body, which is, in each case, subject to the control of the 



66 THE ATHANASIAN CKEED. 

spirit's thought, and to the decision of its affection ; for 
the mind, which is spirit, acts, and the body, which is 
matter, is acted upon. Every spirit also, after the rejec- 
tion of the material body, is a man, in form similar to 
that which he had when he was a man in the world. It 
is hence evident of whom hell consists. 

42. The hell in which those are who are devils, is the 
love of self; and the hell in which those are who are 
called satans, is the love of the world. The reason that 
the diabolical hell is the love of self is, that this love is 
opposed to heavenly love, which is love to the Lord ; 
and the reason that the satanical hell is the love of the 
world is, that this love is opposed to spiritual love, 
which is love towards the neighbor. Now the two 
loves of hell are opposed to the two loves of heaven, 
therefore hell and heaven are in opposition to each other ; 
for all who are in the heavens have regard to the Lord 
and their neighbor, but all who are in the hells have 
regard to themselves and the world, and hence bear 
hatred to the Lord and their neighbor. All who are in 
the heavens think what is true and will what is good, 
because they think and will from the Lord ; but all who 
are in the hells think what is false and will what is evil, 
because they think and will from themselves. From this 
cause it is, that all who are in the hells appear averted, 
their face being turned away from the Lord ; and also 
inverted, their feet being upwards and their head down- 
wards ; this appearance is from their loves being op- 
posed to the love of heaven. Because hell is self-love, it 
is also fire ; for all love corresponds to fire, and in the 
spiritual world it is so presented as to seem like fire at a 
distance, though still it is not fire but love. Hence it is 
that the hells within appear as if they were on fire, and 



THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 67 

without like ejections of fire in the midst of smoke rising 
from furnaces or conflagrations ; sometimes the devils 
also themselves appear like fires of coals. The heat 
which they have from that fire is like an effervescence 
from impurities, which is concupiscence, and the light 
from it is merely an appearance derived from their 
phantasies and confirmations of evil by means of falsities ; 
for whenever the heat of heaven enters by influx, it be- 
comes to them cold ; and when the light of heaven so 
enters, it becomes to them a thick mist. They see how- 
ever from their own light, and live from their own heat ; 
but their sight is like that of owls, birds of night, or 
bats, whose eyes are dim to the light of heaven. The 
living principle belonging to them consists merely in 
their ability to think and to will, to speak and to act, 
and hence to see and to hear, to taste, to smell, and to 
feel. It is merely a faculty derived from the life, which 
is God, acting upon them from without, according to 
order, and continually impelling them to order. It is 
from this faculty that they live for ever. The dead 
principle belonging to them is the offspring of the evils 
and falsities derived from their loves; hence it is that 
their life, viewed from their loves, is not life but death ; 
and therefore hell is in the Word called death, and its 
inhabitants are called dead. 

43. It has been said that self-love and the love of the 
world constitute hell ; the origin of these affections shall 
now be explained. Man was created to love himself and 
the world, his neighbor and heaven, and also the Lord. 
Hence it is that when he is born, he first loves himself 
and the world, then his neighbor and heaven, and after- 
wards, in proportion as he grows in wisdom, the Lord ; 
when this is the case, he is in reality led by the Lord, 



68 THE ATH AN ASIAN CEEED. 

though he is apparently guided by himself. In propor- 
tion, however, as he is unwise, he stops short in the first 
degree, which is that of loving himself and the world ; 
and if he loves his neighbor, it is for the sake of himself 
in the eyes of the world. But if he is altogether void of 
wisdom, he then loves himself alone, or the world and 
his neighbor for the sake of himself ; and with respect to 
heaven and the Lord, he thinks slightingly of them, or 
denies them, or even hates them in his heart, if he does 
not do so openly in words. These are the sources of self- 
love and the love of the world, and because these loves 
are hell, the origin of hell is evident. When man has 
become a hell, he is then like a tree severed from the 
soil, or a tree whose fruits are hurtful. He resembles, 
too, a sandy soil, in which not a seed will strike root, — a 
soil from which nothing springs but the prickly thorn or 
the pungent nettle. The interior or higher principles 
of his mind are closed, but the exterior and lower are 
open ; and because self-love directs everything of thought 
and will to itself, immersing them in the body, it there- 
fore inverts and forces back the exteriors of his mind, 
which, as was observed, are open, and the consequence 
is that theyv ; have an inclination and tendency down- 
wards, and are borne away to hell. But because he 
retains notwithstanding the faculty of thinking, of will- 
ing, of speaking, and of acting — a faculty which is in no 
case taken from him, because he is born a man — and is, 
at the same time, in this inverted state, receiving no 
longer any good or truth whatever from heaven, but 
rather what is evil and false from hell, he therefore pro- 
cures for himself a kind of light, by confirmations of evil 
based in falsity, and of falsity based in evil, in order that 
he may still be eminent above others. He imagines that 



THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 69 

this is a rational light, though it is from hell, and in 
reality fall of foolish delusion, producing a vision like 
that of a dream in the night, or a craziness of imagina- 
tion, from which things that are appear as if they were 
not, and things that are not, as if they were. This will 
be seen more clearly from the comparison between a 
man-angel and a man-devil. 

44. There are in the world men-angels, and there are 
men-devils ; heaven consists of the former, and hell of 
the latter. With a man-angel all the degrees of his life, 
extending to the Lord, are open ; but with a man-devil 
the ultimate degree only is open, and the superior degrees 
are closed. A man-angel is led by the Lord, according 
to order, inwardly from order, and outwardly to it ; but 
a man-devil is led by the Lord outwardly to order, but 
by himself inwardly against it. A man-angel, again, is 
continually withdrawn from evil by the Lord, and led to 
good ; a man-devil also is withdrawn by the Lord from 
evil, but it is from evil more grievous to that which 
is less so, for he cannot be led to good. A man-angel is 
continually withdrawn from hell by the Lord, and led 
more inwardly into heaven. A man-devil is also con- 
tinually withdrawn from hell, but it is from a more 
grievous to a milder hell ; for he cannot be led into hea- 
ven. A man-angel, because he is led by the Lord, is led 
by civil, moral, and spiritual laws, for the sake of the 
Divine principle which is in them ; a man-devil is led by 
the same laws, but it is for the sake of something belong- 
ing to self in them. A man-angel loves from the Lord 
the goods and truths of the Church, which are also the 
goods and truths of heaven, because they are goods and 
truths ; but he loves from himself the goods which relate 
to the body and the world, and the truths which belong 



70 THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 

to the various kinds of knowledge, because they are for 
use and gratification. He loves both the one and the 
other apparently from himself, but in reality from the 
Lord. A man-devil loves also from himself the goods 
which relate to the body and the world, and the truths 
which belong to the various kinds of knowledge, because 
they are for use and gratification ; but he loves both the 
one and the other apparently from himself, but in reality 
from hell. A man-angel is in freedom and in the delight 
of his heart, when he is doing good from a principle of 
good, and when he is doing evil ; but a man-devil is in 
freedom and in the delight of his heart when he is doing 
apparent good from a principle of evil, and when he is 
doing evil. A man-angel and a man-devil resemble each 
other as to externals, but they are altogether unlike as to 
internals, and therefore when externals are laid aside by 
death, the difference is apparent ; the one is carried away 
into heaven, the other is conveyed down into hell. 

45. That man is only a recipient of good and truth 
from the Lord, and of evil and falsity from hell, is a 
proposition that may be illustrated by comparisons, 
confirmed by the laws of order and influx, and, lastly, 
established by experience. It is illustrated by the follow- 
ing comparisons : The sensories of the body are only 
recipient and percipient as if from themselves ; the 
sensory of sight, which is the eye, sees objects out of 
itself, as if it were in close contact with them, though it 
is the rays of light that convey, with the wings of ether, 
the forms and colors of them into the eye ; these forms, 
being perceived by the internal sight, which is called the 
understanding, and examined in the eye, are thus distin- 
guished and known according to their quality. The 
sensory of hearing in like manner perceives sounds — 



THE ATHAXASIAX CREED. 71 

• 

whether they are words or tones of music — from the 
place whence they proceed, as if it were there, though the 
sounds enter in from without, and are perceived in the 
ear by the understanding within. The sensory of smell, 
again, perceives from within what enters in from without, 
sometimes at a great, distance. The sensory of taste also 
is excited by means of the food, which moves upon the 
tongue from without. The sensory of touch has no sen- 
sation unless it is touched. These five sensories of the 
body, by virtue of an influx from within, are sensible of 
the impressions which enter by influx from without ; 
the influx from within is from the spiritual world, but 
the influx from without is from the natural. TTith these 
facts the laws inscribed on the nature of all things are 
in concert, and these laws are: 1. That nothing exists, 
subsists, is acted upon or moved, by itself, but by some 
other beinoj or asrent ; whence it follows that everything 
exists, subsists, is acted upon and moved by the First 
Being, who has no origin from another, but is in Himself 
the living force which is life. 2. That nothing can be 
acted upon or moved, unless it is intermediate between 
two forces, of which the one acts and the other re-acts ; 
thus, unless one acts on one part, and one on the other ; 
and further, unless one acts from within, and the other 
from without. 3. And since these two forces, whilst 
they are at rest, produce an equilibrium, it follows, that 
nothing can be acted upon or moved, unless it is in 
equilibrium, and that when it is acted upon, it is out of 
the equilibrium ; and further, that everything acted upon 
or moved seeks to return to an equilibrium. 4. That all 
activities are changes of state, and variations of form, 
and that the latter are derived from the former. By state 
in man we mean his love ; and by changes of state the 



72 THE ATHAN ASIAN CREED. 

affections of love ; by form in him we mean his intelli- 
gence, and by variations of form, his thoughts ; the latter 
also are from the former. 

46. Bat on this subject we must also speak from 
experience. The angels of the higher heavens feel and 
perceive clearly that they have godds and truths from 
the Lord, and that they have nothing whatever of the 
one or the other from themselves. When they are let 
back into the state of their proprium, which is occasion- 
ally done, they also feel and perceive clearly that they 
derive from hell the evil and falsity which belong to 
their proprium. Some angels of the lowest heaven, not 
comprehending that evil and falsity are from hell, 
because they had acknowledged in the world that they 
were in evils from their birth and from actual life, were 
conducted from one infernal society to another, in each 
of which, as long as they continued in it, they thought 
precisely like the devils there, and differently in each, 
thinking at the time in opposition to goods and truths. 
They were told to think from themselves, thus in a differ- 
ent way, but they replied, that they were quite unable 
to do so ; from this they began to comprehend that evils 
and falsities enter by influx from hell. The case is simp 
lar with many who believe and insist that life in them is 
their own. It sometimes also happens that the angels 
are separated from the societies with which they are 
connected, they are then unable to think or to will, or to 
speak or to act, lying as helpless as new-born infants. 
But as soon as they are restored to their own societies, 
they revive ; for every one, whether man, spirit, or 
angel, is, as to his affections and the thoughts originating 
in them, connected with societies, and acts in unison with 
them. Hence it is that all are known, as to their quality, 



THE ATHANASIAK CREED. 73 

from the societies to which they belong. From this it is 
evident that the quality of their life enters into them by 
influx from without. With regard to myself, I can 
testify that for fifteen years I have clearly perceived that 
I had no thought or will of myself, and that all evil and 
falsity entered by influx from the societies of hell, butall^ 
good and truth from the Lord. Some spirits accordingly 
observing this, said that I was not alive ; I was permitted 
to reply that I was more alive than they were, because I 
was sensible of the influx of good and truth from the 
Lord, and saw and perceived the enlightenment. I can 
also further affirm, that from the Lord I perceive the 
evils and falsities that are derived from hell, not only 
that they originate there, but also from what spirits they 
proceed. I was again permitted to speak with these 
spirits, to rebuke them, and to reject them with their 
evils and falsities, and was thus liberated from them. I 
have been further permitted to say that now I know that 
I live, and that before I had not this knowledge. From 
these circumstances I was fully convinced that all evil 
and falsity are from hell, and all good and truth, together 
with the perception of them, from the Lord ; and, more- 
over, that I have freedom and thence perception as if 
from myself. That all evil and falsity are from hell, I 
have also been permitted to see with my own eyes. 
There appear above the hells as it were fires and clouds 
of smoke ; the fires are evils and the clouds of smoke 
falsities ; they continually exhale and ascend from that 
direction, and the spirits who dwell in the intermediate 
space between heaven and hell are affected by them accord- 
ing to their love. It shall also in a few words be describ- 
ed how evil and falsities have the power to issue out of 
hell, though there is in existence but one acting force, and 

4 



74 THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 

that is the life which is God : for this has also been dis- 
closed to me. There was uttered with a loud voice from 
heaven, a truth from the Word, which flowed down to 
hell, passing through it to the lowest hell. It was further 
heard that this truth was in its descent successively and 
gradually turned into falsity, and at length into a falsity 
of such a nature, that it was altogether opposite to the 
truth, and it was then in the lowest hell. The reason 
that it was turned in this way was that everything is 
received according to the state and form of the recipient; 
hence it was that this truth entering by influx into inverted 
forms, such as exist in hell, became successively inverted 
and changed into a falsity the opposite of truth. From 
this also the quality of hell was evident, from the highest 
hell to the lowest ; and further, that there is but one acting 
force, and that is the life which is the Lord. 

47. That man is nevertheless a subject of guilt, follows 
as a consequence from what was said above, and also 
from what was before established concerning the life 
which is God, and which exists in man from God, and 
further from the laws above cited, which are truths. The 
reason that evil is imputed to man is, that power has 
been given him, and is continually given him, to feel 
and perceive as if there were life in himself; and because 
he is in this state, he is also in freedom, and has the 
faculty of acting as if from himself. This freedom and 
faculty, regarded in themselves, are not taken from him, 
because he is born a man, who is to live for ever. It is 
from these that he has power, as if from himself, to 
receive both good and evil. And because he is kept in 
an intermediate state between heaven and hell, the Lord 
also gives him power to know that all good is from Him, 
and all evil from the devil ; and further, by means of the 



THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 75 

truths in the church, to discern what good and evil are. 
When he knows them, and is enabled by the Lord to think 
and will them, as well as to speak and do them, as if from 
himself, and this continually by means of influx, in this 
case, if he is not a recipient, he becomes a subject of guilt. 
But the fallacy which deceives him arises chiefly from 
this cause, that he does not know that his freedom and 
the faculty of acting as if from himself, are derived from 
an influx of life from the Lord into his inmost principle, 
and that this influx, because he is born a man and en- 
dowed with this principle, is not taken from him, but 
entering into recipient form beneath his inmost principle 
— the forms and principle in which his understanding 
and will reside — is varied according to the reception of 
good and truth, and even diminished and taken away 
according to the reception of evil and falsity. In a word, 
the life which causes man to be man, and to be distin- 
guished from the brutes ; the life which is in his inmost 
principle, and therefore acts universally in his inferior 
principles ; the life from which he has freedom and the 
faculty of thinking and willing, of speaking and acting, 
is perpetually derived from the Lord's presence with 
man ; but man's understanding and will arising from 
that life are changed and varied according to reception. 
Man lives in an intermediate state between heaven and 
hell ; the delight arising from the love of evil and of the 
falsity grounded in it enters into him by influx from hell, 
whilst the delight arising from the love of good and of 
the truth grounded in it, enters into him by influx from 
the Lord. He is, moreover, constantly kept in the sen- 
sation and perception of life as if it were from himself, 
and by that means he is also constantly kept in the free- 
dom of choosing the one or the other, as well as in the 



76 THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 

faculty of receiving the one or the other.* So far there- 
fore as he chooses and receives evil and falsity, so far is 
he taken from that intermediate state down to hell"; and, 
on the other hand, so far as he chooses and receives good 
and truth, so far is he removed from it to heaven. The 
state of man from creation is, that he may know that evil 
is from hell, and good from the Lord, and that he may per- 
ceive them in him as if from himself; and when he per- 
ceives them, that he may reject the evil to hell, and receive 
the good with the acknowledgment that it is from the 
Lord. When he thus rejects the one and receives the 
other, he does not then appropriate to himself the evil, 
or make the good a ground of merit. I know however 
that there are many who do not comprehend this, and 
who have not the will to comprehend it; but let them, 
notwithstanding, pray to the Lord, that He may be con- 
tinually with them, that He may lift up and turn His 
countenance to them, that He may teach, enlighten, and 
lead them, because of themselves they can do nothing 
that is good, and grant that they may live ; that the devil 
may not seduce them, and pour evil into their hearts, 
inasmuch as they know that, if they are not led by the 
Lord, he leads them and instils into them evils of every 
kind, such as hatred and revenge, cunning and deceit, as 
a serpent instils poisons ; for he is at hand exciting and 
constantly accusing, and when he finds a heart turned 
away from God, he enters in and dwells there, and draws 
down the soul to hell. Lord, deliver us. These words 
coincide with what was said above, for hell is the devil ; 
and it is thus still acknowledged that man is led either 
by the Lord or bj hell, that he is in this way in an inter- 
mediate state. (See also what was said on this subject, 
n. 35.) 



THE ATHAN ASIAN CREED. 77 

48. The fourth law of the Divine Providence is, That 
the understanding and the will should not he in the least 
degree compelled by another, since all compulsion by ano- 
ther takes away freedom ; but that man should compel 
himself for to compel himself is to act from freedom. 
Man's freedom belongs to his will ; from the will it exists- 
in the thought of the understanding ; and by means of 
the thought it shows itself in the speech and in the action 
of the body ; for man says, when he wills anything from 
freedom, "I will to think this" "I will to speak this" and 
"I will to do this." From freedom of will he has also the 
faculty of thinking, of speaking, and of acting, for the 
will gives this faculty, because it is freedom. Since free- 
dom belongs to man's will, it belongs also to his love, 
since nothing else in man constitutes freedom, but the 
love which belongs to his will. The reason is, that love 
is the life of man, for man is of the same quality as his 
love ; consequently, that which proceeds from the love 
of his will, proceeds from his life. Hence it is evident, 
that freedom belongs to man's will, to his love, and to his 
life, consequently, that it makes one with his proprium, 
and with his nature and disposition. Now because the 
Lord desires that everything which proceeds from Him- 
self to man, should be appropriated to man as if it were 
man's own, for otherwise there would be in man no means 
of reciprocity by which conjunction is effected, it is there- 
fore a law of the Divine Providence, that the understand- 
ing and the will of man should not be at all compelled by 
another. For who has not the power to think and will 
both evil and good? against the laws and in conformity 
with them? against the king and in agreement with 
him? even against Grod and in obedience to God? But 
he is not allowed to speak and do all the things that he 



78 THE ATHAN ASIAN CREED. 

thinks and wills, for there are fears which compel the 
externals, but not the internals. The reason is, that the 
externals must be reformed by the internals, but not the 
internals by the externals ; for the internal enters by 
influx into the external, but not the external into the 
internal. The internals also belong to man's spirit, the 
externals to his body; and because the spirit is to be 
reformed, therefore it is not compelled. There are how- 
ever some fears which compel the internals or spirit of 
man, but they are those only which enter by influx from 
the spiritual world, and refer on the one hand to the 
punishments of hell, and on the other to the loss of favor 
with Grod. But the fear of the punishment of hell is an 
outward fear belonging to the thought and will, whereas 
the fear arising from the loss of favor with God is an 
inward fear belonging to them ; it is that holy fear which 
attaches and conjoins itself to love, and with it at length 
forms one essence. It shows itself in the case of the man 
who loves his friend, and in consequence of his love is 
afraid to injure him. 

49. There is an infernal freedom, and there is a hea- 
venly freedom ; the infernal freedom is that into which 
man is born from his parents, and the heavenly freedom 
is that into which he is reformed by the Lord. From 
infernal freedom man derives the will of evil, the love of 
evil, and the life of evil ; but from heavenly freedom he 
derives the will of good, the love of good, and the life of 
good ; for as was before said, the will, the love, and the 
life of man make one with his freedom. These two 
kinds of freedom are opposite to each other, but the 
opposite does not appear, except so far as man is in the 
one and not in the other. But man cannot come out of 
the one into the other, unless he compels himself. To 



THE ATHANASIAN CREED. ' 79 

compel himself, is to resist evil, and to fight against it as 
if from himself, but still to implore the Lord for aid to do 
so ; it is thus that man fights from the freedom which is 
from the Lord inwardly in himself, against the freedom 
which is from hell outwardly in himself. It appears to 
him, whilst he is in the combat, that it is not freedom 
from which he fights, but a kind of compulsion, because 
it is against that freedom which is born with him ; never- 
theless, it is freedom, since otherwise he would not fight 
as if from himself. But the inward freedom, from which 
he fights, though appearing like compulsion, is afterwards 
felt as freedom, for it becomes as if involuntary, sponta- 
neous, and in a manner innate. The case is compara- 
tively like that of a man who compels his hand to write, 
to work, to play upon a musical instrument, or to fence, 
the hands and arms afterwards performing these opera- 
tions as if from themselves, and of their own accord ; for 
man is in such a case in good, because removed from evil, 
and led by the Lord. When man has compelled him- 
self against infernal freedom, he then sees and perceives 
that such freedom is servitude, and that heavenly freedom 
is real freedom, because from the Lord. The case in 
itself is this, that so far as man compels himself by resist- 
ing evils, so far are the infernal societies, with which he 
acts in unity, removed from him, and he is introduced by 
the Lord into heavenly societies, that he may act in unity 
with them. On the other hand, if man does not compel 
himself to resist evils, he continues in them. That the case 
is so, has been made known to me by much experience in 
the spiritual w T orld ; and farther, that evil does not recede 
in consequence of any compulsion effected by punish- 
ment, nor afterwards by any fear which punishment may 
produce. 



80 THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 

50. It was said above, that it is a law of the Divine 
Providence, that man should compel himself; by this is 
meant that he should compel himself from evil, but not 
that he should compel himself to good; for he is per- 
mitted to compel himself from evil, but not to compel 
himself to good which in itself is good. For if he com- 
pels himself to good and has not compelled himself from 
evil, he does not do good from the Lord, but from him- 
self ; for he compels himself to it either for»the sake of 
himself, or for the sake of the world, or for the sake of 
recompense, or from a principle of fear. Such good in 
itself is not good, because the man himself, or the world, 
or recompense, is in it as its end. but good itself is not 
in it, thus neither the Lord ; it is, moreover, not fear, 
but love, which causes good to be good. As for exam- 
ple : were a man to compel himself to do good to his 
neighbor, to give to the poor, to endow churches, to do 
justice, and hence perform deeds of charity and truth, 
before he had compelled himself to abstain from evils, 
and by that means removed them, it would be like a 
palliative mode of treatment, by which a disease or an 
ulcer is healed externally. Or it would be like an adul- 
terer compelling himself to chastity, a proud man to 
humility, and a dishonest man to sincerity, by mere 
external acts. But when man compels himself to abstain 
from evils, he then purifies his internal, and when this is 
done he does good from freedom, without compelling 
himself to do it. For so far as man compels himself to 
abstain from evil, so far he comes into heavenly freedom, 
from which is derived everything good which in itself 
is good ; he does not therefore compel himself to it. It 
appears indeed as if there were a close connexion be- 
tween compelling himself from evil, and compelling him- 



THE ATHANABIAN CREED. 81 

self to good, but there is no such connexion. From, 
undeniable experience I know that several men have 
compelled themselves to do good, but not to abstain from 
evi] ; but when they were ^explored, it was discovered 
that the evils from within were inherent in the good 
which they did; and hence their good was compared 
with idols and images constructed of clay or mire. I 
was also told, that such persons believe that God is 
gained over by the ascription of glory and the offering 
of gifts, even though they proceed from an impure 
heart. Nevertheless a man may, before the eyes of the 
world, compel himself to good, although he does not 
compel himself from evil, because in the world he is 
recompensed for it ; for in the world that which is exter- 
nal is regarded, seldom that which is internal ; but before 
Grod it is otherwise. 

51. The fifth law of the Divine Providence is, That 
man should not know, from any sense or perception 
within himself, how good and truth enter hy inflv&from 
the Lord, or how evil 'and falsity enter ~by influx from 
hell / nor see how the Divine Providence operates in 
favor of good against evil / for in this case he would 
not act from freedom according to reason as if from 
himself. It is sufficient that he knows and acknowledges 
these things from the Word, and f ram the doctrine of 
the church. This is meant by the Lord's words in John : 
"The spirit breatheth where it willeth, and thou nearest 
the sound thereof, but knowest not whence it cometh, 
and whither it goeth ; so is every one who is born of 
the Spirit " (iii. 8) ; and also by these words in Mark : 
" The kingdom of Grod is as if a man should cast seed 
upon the earth, and should sleep, and rise night and day, 

and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not 

4* 



82 THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 

how ; for the spontaneous earth bringeth forth fruit, first 
the blade, then the ear, at length the full corn in the ear ; 
and when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he 
putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come." (iv. 
26-29.) The reason that man does not perceive the ope- 
ration of the Divine Providence within him is, that such 
perception would take away his freedom, and hence the 
faculty of thinking. as if from himself, and with it also 
all the enjoyment of life, so that he would be like an 
automaton, in which there is no principle of reciprocity 
for conjunction to be effected; he would also be a slave, 
not a free man. The principal cause that the Divine 
Providence moves so secretly that there is scarcely any 
vestige of it apparent, although it operates upon the 
most minute things of man's thought and will, which 
regard his eternal state, is, that the Lord continually 
desires to impress His love upon him, and through it 
His wisdom, and thus to create him into His image. 
Therefore it is that the operation of the Lord is upon 
man's love, and from it upon histinderstanding, and not 
from his understanding upon his love. The love with 
its affections, which are manifold and innumerable, is not 
perceived by man except from a most general feeling, and 
from that in so small a degree that it is scarcely percep- 
tible at all ; and yet man is to be led from one affection 
of loves into another, according to the connexion in 
which they are arranged, in order that he may be 
reformed and saved. This is incomprehensible, not only 
to man but also to the angels. If man discovered any- 
thing of these arcana, he could not be withdrawn from 
leading himself, even though it were continually from 
heaven into hell, notwithstanding he is constantly led by 
the Lord from hell into heaven ; for from himself he 



THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 83 

constantly acts in opposition to order, but the Lord con- 
stantly according to it. For, in consequence of the 
nature derived from his parents, he is in the love of him- 
self and the world, and hence he perceives, from a feel- 
ing of delight, the whole of those loves as a good ; and 
still those loves must as ends be removed. This is 
effected by the Lord by an infinity of ways which 
appear intricate as a labyrinth, even before the angels of 
the third heaven. From these considerations it is evi- 
dent, that it would not be at all advantageous to man to 
know anything of the subject from sense and perception, 
but on the contrary hurtful to him, and destroy him for 
ever. It is enough that he is acquainted with truths, 
and through them with the nature of good and evil, and 
that in every event and circumstance, he acknowledges 
the Lord, and His divine guidance and protection. In 
this case, so far as he is acquainted with truths, and 
through them discerns good and evil, and moreover does 
truths as if from himself, so far the Lord by means of 
love introduces him into wisdom and into the love of 
wisdom, conjoining wisdom with love, and making them 
one because they are one in Himself. The ways by 
which the Lord leads him, may be compared with the 
vessels through which his blood flows and circulates ; 
and also with the fibres and their foldings within and 
without the viscera of the body, especially in the brain, 
through which the vital spirit flows, imparting animation. 
Man is ignorant how all these things enter by influx and 
flow through him, and yet he lives if he only knows and 
does what is really conducive to his own well-being. 
But the ways by which the Lord leads him are much 
more complicated and inextricable, both those by which 
He leads him through the societies of heaven, and 



84 THE ATHANASIAN CEEED. 

inwardly into them This, therefore, is what is meant 
by "the spirit breatheth where it willeth, and thou 
knowest not whence it cometh and whither it goeth" 
(John iii.) ; also, by the seed springing up and growing, 
the man knowing not how. (Mark iv.) What advan- 
tage beside is it, that man should know how the seed 
grows, provided he knows how to plough the earth, to 
harrow it, to sow the seed, and when he reaps the har- 
vest, to bless and praise God ? 

52. The operation of the Divine Providence, which 
proceeds, though man is ignorant of it, shall be illustrated 
by two comparisons. It resembles a gardener who col- 
lects the seed of trees, shrubs, and flowers of every kind, 
and provides himself with spades, rakes, and other 
implements for working the ground. He afterwards 
brings his garden into cultivation, digging it, dividing it 
into beds, putting in the seeds, and smoothing the surface. 
This is the work of man as if from himself; but it is the 
Lord who causes the seeds to strike root, to appear above 
the earth, to shoot forth into leaves, and then into flowers, 
and lastly to yield new seeds for the gardener's benefit. 
It resembles again a man who is about to build a house. 
He provides himself with the requisite materials, such as 
beams, rafters, stones, lime, and other things. But the 
Lord, whilst the man is ignorant of it, afterwards builds the 
house from the foundation to the roof, entirely suited to 
the man's convenience. From these comparisons it fol- 
lows that, unless man provides himself with the requisites 
for his garden or his house, he will have neither the 
former with the advantage of its fruits, nor the latter to 
afford him a dwelling. So is it in the case of reforma- 
tion. The requisites with which man is to provide him- 
self are, the knowledges of truth and good derived from 



THE ATHANASIAN CKEED. 85 

the Word, from the teaching of the church, from the 
world and from his own labor, the Lord effecting the 
rest without man's knowledge. It must, however, be 
borne in mind that all these requisites for planting the 
garden, or building the house, which, as was observed, 
are the knowledges of truth and good, are merely the 
necessary stores, Which have no life, until man uses them, 
that is, lives according to them, as if from himself. When 
this is done, the Lord then enters, and imparts life, and 
builds, that is, reforms. The garden or the house is 
man's understanding ; for in it dwells his wisdom, which 
derives every property it has from love. 

53. The sixth law of the Divine Providence is : That 
man should not he reformed hy external means, hut hy in- 
ternal', hy external means are meant miracles and visions, 
fears and punishments ; hy internal, the truths and 
goods derived from the Word and the teaching of the 
church, and looking to the Lord. For these means enter 
hy an internal way, and cast out the evils and falsities 
which reside within; hut external means enter hy an 
external way, and do not cast out the evils and falsities, 
hut shut them in. Man is, however, further reformed 
hy external means, when he has heen first reformed hy 
internal. 

This follows from the laws above stated, viz., that man 
is reformed by means of freedom, but not otherwise ; and 
further, that to compel himself is to act from freedom, 
but to be compelled is not so. Man is compelled by 
miracles and visions, and also by fears and punishments ; 
by the former the external of his spirit, which consists 
in thinking and willing, is compelled ; and by the latter, 
the external of his body, which consists in speaking and 
doing. This may be compelled, because man neverthe- 



86 THE ATH AN ASIAN CKEED. 

less thinks and wills freely ; but the external of his spirit 
must not be so, for in that case his internal freedom, by 
means of which he is to be reformed, perishes. If he 
could have been reformed by miracles and visions, then all 
men throughout the whole world would be so. It is, there- 
fore, a holy law of the Divine Providence that internal 
freedom should not in the least degree be violated ; for 
by it the Lord enters with regard to man, even into the 
hell where he is, and by it He leads him there ; and if 
man is willing to follow, He brings him out, and intro- 
duces him into heaven, there bringing him nearer and 
nearer to himself. It is in this way only that man is 
brought out of infernal freedom, which, regarded in 
itself, is slavery, because derived from hell, and brought 
into heavenly freedom, which is essential freedom, be- 
coming by degrees of a higher quality, until at length it 
attains its highest state, because it proceeds from the 
Lord, whose will is that man should not in any degree 
be forced. This is the path along which man's reforma- 
tion proceeds ; but it is a path which miracles and visions 
would close. The freedom of man's spirit is not in any 
case violated, even for such an end as this, viz., that the 
evils belonging to him, both hereditary and actual, may 
be removed. This is done, as was said above, when he 
compels himself. These evils are removed by the Lord's 
inspiring him with the affection of truth from which 
he derives intelligence, and with the affection of good 
through which he acquires love ; for so far as he is in 
these affections, he so far compels himself to resist evils 
and falsities. This again is a path of reformation which 
miracles and visions would close, for they persuade and 
compel belief, and thus bind and imprison the thoughts ; 
hence, when his freedom is taken away, man has no 



THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 87 

means, from any interior principle, of removing his evils, 
for no evil is removed but from such a principle. The 
evils thus remain shut in, and from their own internal 
freedom, in which they delight, they continually act in 
opposition to the truths and goods which miracles and 
visions had impressed upon the mind, and at length 
disperse them. They then term miracles the interior 
operations of nature, visions the insane delusions of a 
disordered imagination, and goods and truths mere fal- 
lacies and absurdities. Such is the effect which evils 
shut in produce upon the externals which shut them in. 
But man, when he thinks but superficially, may possibly 
believe that miracles and visions, although they per- 
suade, still do not take away freedom of thought. They 
do so, however, with the unreformed, but not w T ith the 
reformed ; for with the former they shut in their evils, 
but not so with the latter. 

54. All men who wish for miracles and visions resem- 
ble the children of Israel who, after they had seen so 
many prodigies in Egypt, at the Eed Sea, and on Mount 
Sinai, forsook within a month the worship of Jehovah, 
and worshipped the golden calf. (Exodus xxxii.) They 
also resemble the rich man in hell, who said to Abraham, 
that his brethren would repent, if one were sent to them 
from the dead, but to whom Abraham replied : " They 
have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them; " "if 
they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they 
be persuaded though one rose from the dead." (Luke 
xvi. 29, 30, 31.) They also resemble Thomas, who said 
that he would not believe unless he saw, and to whom the 
Lord said : "Blessed are they that have not seen, and 
yet have believed." (John xx. 29.) Those who believe 
and do not see, are those who do not desire signs but 



88 THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 

truths, that is, Moses and the prophets, and believe them. 
The latter, being internal men, become spiritual. The 
former, however, being external, remain sensual, and 
when they see miracles, and believe only by their means, 
they are not unlike a graceful woman, who is inwardly 
affected with a fatal disorder of which she soon dies. They 
also resemble fruits which are beautiful in the rind, but 
decayed at the core ; or nuts in which a worm lies con- 
cealed. It is moreover well known, that no man can be 
compelled to love and believe, but that love and belief 
must be rooted inwardly in man ; consequently no man 
can be brought to love God, and to believe in Him, by 
miracles and visions, because they compel. For how will 
he who does not believe in consequence of the miracles 
recorded in the Word, believe in consequence of miracles 
which have no place in the Word ? 

55. The seventh law of the Divine Providence is : 
That man should be admitted by the Lord into the truths of 
faith, and the goods of love only so far as he can be kept in 
them to the end of his life ; for it is better thai he should be 
constantly evil, than that he should be good and afterwards 
evil, for in this case he becomes profane. The permission of 
evil is also from this source. The Lord can impart the 
affection of good, and the faith originating in it. to every 
man of sound reason, by withholding him from the evil 
loves of his proprium ; for so far as man is withheld from 
them, he is so far in the understanding of truth and in the 
will of good. I have seen even devils brought back again 
to such a state that, whilst they remained in it, they spoke 
truths from their understanding and belief, and performed 
goods from their will and love. They were brought into 
this state, because they denied their ability to understand 
truths and to perform goods ; but as soon as the detention 



THE ATHA^s'ASIAX CREED. 89 

from their own loves was relaxed, and they had returned 
into the lusts originating in them, they had instead of a 
belief grounded in truth, a belief grounded in falsity ; 
and instead of the love of good, the love of evil. This 
has been frequently witnessed, and in the presence of 
many. Hence it was plain that every man is capable of 
being reformed, and that being reformed is the same 
thing as being removed from evil loves. But how man 
is removed from them has been described above. The 
reason that this removal is not effected by the Lord is, 
that those who come into the affections of truth and good, 
and into the faith and love originating in them, and do not 
constantly remain in these affections to the end of their 
life, but relapse into the loves from which they had 
abstained, are guilty of profaning holy things. There are 
several kinds of profanation, but this is the most grievous 
of all ; for after death the lot of those who are guilty of 
it is terrible. They are not in hell, but beneath it, where 
they neither think nor will, but merely see and act. 
They see objects which are not in existence, and do not 
see those which are. They act as if they were doing 
everything, and yet they do nothing. They are alto- 
gether the insane delusions of a disordered imagination. 
And because they neither think nor will, they are no 
longer men : for it is the characteristic of man to think 
and will. Hence it is that they are not addressed as male 
or female beings, but as if they were objects devoid of all 
distinctions of sex. TThen they are seen in any degree 
of light from heaven, they have the appearance of skele- 
tons covered with a blackish skin. Such is the condition 
of those who were once reformed, and do not remain so. 
The reason that their lot is so dreadful shall also be stated. 
By reformation there is effected, between them and 



90 THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 

heaven, a communication, from which there is an influx 
of goods and truths ; by these the interiors of their minds 
are opened and their evils set aside. If they remain in 
this state till death they are happy ; but if they do not 
remain so, they are unhappy ; for the evils, which ha.d 
been removed, then return, and mingle with the truths 
and goods ; thus heaven in their case mingles with hell, 
and that to such a degree, that they cannot be separated. 
For whatever has been once impressed upon the mind of 
man, by means of love, is never extirpated ; and there- 
fore after death, because the goods cannot be separated 
from the evils, nor the truths from the falsities, the whole 
mind is torn from its seat. Hence it is that these spirits 
have no longer either thought or will ; what remains of 
these faculties being like a shell when the kernel is gone, 
or like mere skin and bone when the flesh is removed ; 
for this is all that they have remaining of the man. Be 
it therefore known that there is no danger in departing 
from evil to good, but that the danger is in departing from 
good to evil. 

56. Such, however, is not the lot of those who are 
constantly evil ; for they are in hell according to the 
loves of their life. There they think, and from their 
thought they speak, although they speak falsities ; they 
will also, and from their will they act, although their 
actions are evil. They appear moreover to each other 
as men, although in the light of heaven they are of a 
monstrous form. Hence it may be seen why it is in 
accordance with a law of order relating to reformation, 
and called a law of the Divine Providence, that man is 
admitted into the truths of faith and the goods of love, 
only so far as he can be withheld from evils and kept in 
goods to the end of his life ; and that it is better that he 



THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 91 

should be constantly evil, than that he should be good, 
and afterwards evil ; for in this case he becomes profane. 
The Lord, who both provides and foresees all things, con- 
ceals for this reason, the operations of His Providence, 
so much so that man scarcely knows whether there is a 
Providence in any case whatever. He also suffers him to 
attribute ordinary events to foresight, and prosperous 
occurrences to fortune, and even to ascribe many things 
to nature, rather than that he should, through any strik- 
ing and manifest signs of .the Divine Providence and Pre- 
sence, plunge unseasonably into the midst of sanctities, 
in which he would not continue. The Lord permits 
similar things also to exist in accordance with the Laws 
of his Providence, viz., that man should enjoy freedom, 
and act, in all that he does, according to reason, thus 
entirely as if from himself. For it is better that he should 
ascribe the operations of the Divine Providence to pru- 
dence and fortune, than that he should acknowledge 
them, and still live as a devil. From these circumstances 
it is plain, that the laws of permission, which are nume- 
rous, proceed from the laws of Providence. 

57. The kind of profanation described above is meant 
by the following words in Matthew : " When the unclean 
spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry 
places, seeking rest, but findeth none ; then he saith, I 
will return into my house, from whence I came out, and 
when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept and gar- 
nished ; then goeth he and taketh with himself seven 
other spirits more wicked than himself, and entering in 
they dwell there ; and the last things of that man become 
worse than the first." (xii. 43, 44, 45.) In this passage 
the conversion of man is described by the departure of 
the unclean spirit from him ; and his return to evils, and 



92 THE ATHANASIAN CKEED. 

the profanation arising from it, by the unclean spirit 
returning with seven spirits worse than himself. In a 
similar manner by these words in John, which Jesus 
spake to the man who was healed at the pool of Be- 
thesda: "Behold, thou art made whole, sin no more, 
lest a worse thing come unto thee." (v. 14.) And by 
these words in the same Evangelist: "He hath blinded 
their eyes and hardened their heart, that they should not 
see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and 
be converted, and I should heal them." (xii. 40.) Lest 
they should be converted and be healed signifies, lest they 
should become profane. This would have been the case 
with the Jews (Matt. xii. 45), and therefore they were 
prohibited to eat fat and blood (Levit. iii. 17 ; vii. 23, 
25) ; for by this was meant their profanation of what is 
holy, in consequence of their being of such a character. 
The Lord also, by means of His Divine Providence, 
takes the greatest care that this kind of profanation should 
not occur. For this purpose He separates the holy things 
from those that are not so in the case of man, stirring 
them up in the interiors of his mind, and elevating them 
to himself: but those that are not holy, he stores up in 
the exteriors, turning them to the world. Hence the 
holy things can be separated from the unholy, and man 
can thus be saved. Salvation however cannot be effected, 
when goods and evils are mingled together. The Lord 
teaches in the Apocalypse that they who remain in faith 
and love until death, will have a crown of life (chap. ii. 
10; iii. 26). 

58. The eighth law of the Divine Providence is : That 
the Lord is continually withdrawing man from evils, 
so far as man from freedom is willing to he withdrawn 
from them. That so far as he can he withdrawn from 



THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 93 

evils, he is so far led by the Lord to good, thus to hea- 
ven , but that so far as he cannot he withdrawn from 
them, he cannot so far he led hy the Lord to good, thus 
to heaven. For so far as he is withdrawn from evils, 
he so far does good from the Lord, ivhich is good in it- 
self/ hut so far as he is not withdrawn from them, he so 
far does good from himself tchich has in it evil. Man, 
with regard to the language of his lips and the actions of 
his body, is in the natural world ; but with regard to the 
thoughts of his understanding and the affections of his 
will, he is in the spiritual world. By the spiritual world 
are meant both heaven and hell, each being divided in the 
most orderly manner into innumerable societies, accord- 
ing to all the varieties of affections and the thoughts 
originating in them. In the midst of these societies 
is man, so allied to them, that he has not the smallest 
power either of thought or will, but in connexion with 
them; a connexion so close, that if he and they were 
severed from each other by force, he would fall dead ; 
his life remaining only in that inmost principle, by which 
he is a man as distinguished from a beast, and by which 
he lives for ever. He is not aware that he is, with regard 
to his life, in such unbroken intercourse ; and the reason 
of his ignorance is, that he does not converse with spirits. 
So long has he been in utter ignorance of this state ; but 
that it may not be for ever concealed from him, behold, 
it is now revealed. It is necessary to premise this, before 
this law of the Divine Providence can be understood. 

59. Man is from his birth in the midst of infernal soci- 
eties, and expands into them precisely as he develops the 
evil affections of his will. These affections are all de- 
rived from the love of self and the love of the world ; the 
reason is, that these loves turn all the powers of the mind 



94 THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 

downwards and outwards, thus to hell, which is beneath 
them and extraneous to them. Hell again in this waj 
turns them from the Lord, and thus from heaven. The 
interiors also of all the powers that belong to the mind 
of man, and with them the interiors of all the powers that 
belong to his spirit, are capable of being turned either 
downwards or upwards; they are turned downwards 
when he loves himself above all things, and upwards, 
when he so loves the Lord. It is an actual turning ; 
man of himself turning them downwards, but the Lord 
of Himself turning them upwards. It is the ruling love 
which effects the turning; for it is only so far as the 
thoughts are derived from the will, that they act in this 
way upon the interiors of the mind. Man, again, is not 
aware that such is the case, and yet he ought to be so, 
in order that he may understand how he is led by the 
Lord out of hell, and conducted into heaven. 

60. But that man may be brought out of hell and con- 
ducted into heaven by the Lord, he must himself resist 
hell, that is evil, as if from himself. If he does not resist 
it as if from himself, he remains in hell, and hell remains 
in him, nor are they separated, even to eternity. This 
also follows from the laws of the Divine Providence 
which have been explained above. Experience also will 
teach us that this is the case. For evils are removed 
from man either by punishments, by temptations, and 
the aversions arising from them, or by the affections of 
truth and good. They are removed by punishments in 
the case of those who are not reformed; by temptations 
and the aversions arising from them in the case of those 
who will be reformed ; and by the affections of truth and 
good, in the case of the regenerate. Experience on this 
subject is as follows : When an unreformed or evil man 



THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 95 

undergoes punishments, as is the case in hell, he is kept 
in them until it is perceived that of himself he does not 
will evils ; he is thus compelled of himself to remove 
them. If the punishment does not extend to the inten- 
tion and will, he continues in his evil. Bat still the evil 
is not even then extirpated, because he had not compelled 
himself; it remains within, and returns when the fear 
ceases. In the case of those who will be reformed, evils 
are removed by temptations, which are not punishments 
but combats. Men of this description are not compelled 
to resist evils, but they compel themselves, and implore 
the assistance of the Lord ; they are thus liberated from 
the evils which they have resisted. They afterwards 
desist from them, not from any fear of punishment, but 
from an aversion to evil, the very aversion becoming at 
length with them resistance. But with the regenerate 
there are no temptations or combats, the affections of 
truth and good keeping evils at a distance from them ; 
for they are entirely separated from hell, and conjoined 
to the Lord. To be separated and removed from evils, 
is the same thing as to be separated and removed from 
the societies of hell. The Lord is able to separate and 
remove all, as many as He wills, from the societies of 
hell, that is from evils, and to transfer them to the soci- 
eties of heaven, that is to goods ; but this state continues 
but for a few hours, after which the evils return. Some- 
times also I have seen this take place, but have observed 
that the wicked man continued wicked as before. There 
is not, in the whole spiritual world, an instance of any 
man having been removed from evils but by means of 
combat or resistance as if from himself, or of any man 
having been so removed but by the Lord alone. 

61. Experience may bear further testimony on this 



96 THE ATH AN ASIAN CREED. 

subject. All who come from the earth into the spiritual 
world, are known as to their quality, from their ability or 
inability to resist evils as if from themselves. Those who 
can do so are saved, but not so those who cannot. The 
reason is, that man cannot of himself resist evils, he can 
only do so from the Lord ; for it is the Lord who resists 
evils with man, causing him at the same time to feel and 
perceive as if he did it from himself. Those therefore 
resist evils as if from themselves, who in the world ac- 
knowledged the Lord, confessing that all good and truth 
proceed from Him, and nothing from man, and that 
thus it is from Him and not from themselves that they 
have power against evils. Those, on the other hand, 
who made no such acknowledgment in the world, cannot 
resist evils as if from themselves, for they are in evils, 
and from their love are in the delight of them ; and to 
resist the delight of their love is to resist themselves, 
their own nature and their own life. "Whilst the punish- 
ments of hell were recounted to them, whilst they were 
even seen and felt by them, the trial has been made 
whether they could resist the evils, but still it was all in 
vain. They made up their minds and said : " Be it so, 
let it happen so, let me only be in the delights and joys 
of my own heart, as long as I am here. I know what 
the present is, and I have no thought about the future. 
No more harm befals me than befals many, many, others." 
But after the time is expired, they are cast into hell, 
where they are compelled, by means of punishments, to 
abstain from the perpetration of evils. Punishments 
however do not remove the will, the intention, and the 
consequent thought, of evil ; they merely prevent the 
act. Hence it is evident that resistance to evils does 
not originate with man, but with the Lord, in the case 



THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 97 

of those who acknowledge Him ; and that He causes 
such resistance to appear as if it proceeded from 
themselves. 

62. The reason that the Lord alone resists evils in the 
case of man, and not by means of any angels of heaven 
is, that it is the work of the Divine Omnipotence, the 
Divine Omniscience, and the Divine Providence. It is 
the work of the Divine Omnipotence, because to resist 
one evil is to resist many, and also to resist the hells. 
For every evil is conjoined with evils innumerable, 
cohering, like the hells with each other ; for as the hells 
make one, so also do evils, and no one but the Lord alone 
can resist the hells conjoined in this way. It is the work 
of the Divine Omniscience, because the Lord alone knows 
the quality of man, what his evils are, and their connexion 
with all other evils ; thus, in what order they must be 
removed, so that man may be inwardly or radically 
cured. It is also the work of the Divine Providence, so 
that nothing may be done in opposition to the laws of 
order, and further, that what is done may conduce to 
man's well-being for ever; for the Divine Providence, 
the Divine Omniscience, and the Divine Omnipotence, in 
all individual things regard what is eternal. From these 
considerations it may be evident, that no angel can resist 
evils in the case of man, but the Lord alone. The Lord 
effects this with man both immediately from Himself, 
and also immediately through heaven ; but still it is in 
such a way, that no angel knows anything of the opera- 
tion. For heaven in its whole complex is His Divine 
Proceeding, and, therefore, when He operates through 
Heaven, He operates from Himself; it is said mediately, 
because the Divine Operation flows through the heavens, 
but still it does not take anything from the proprium of 

5 



98 THE ATHANASIAN CKEED. 

any of the angels there, but from that which in them 
belongs to itself. The appearance is similar to that of a 
man performing an action ; in order to produce the action, 
he moves innumerable motive fibres scattered over his 
whole body, but of the action not a single fibre has any 
knowledge. Such also is the nature of the angels in the 
divine body, which is called heaven. 

63. The law of the Divine Providence, that man, so 
far as he can be withdrawn from evils, does good so far 
from the Lord, which in itself is good ; but that, so far as 
he cannot be withdrawn from evils, he does good so far 
from himself, which has evil in it, may be illustrated from 
the commandments of the decalogue. The command- 
ment against stealing may serve as an example. Those 
who, as if from themselves, resist the passion for stealing, 
and thus that for getting gain insincerely and unjustly, 
the language of their hearts being, that such a passion 
must not be gratified, because it is contrary to the divine 
law, and thus contrary to Grod, in itself infernal, and 
thus in itself evil, are, after a few brief combats, with- 
drawn from this evil, and led by the Lord into the goods 
which are called sincerity and justice. They then begin 
to think of these goods, and, from a perception of their 
qualities, to distinguish them, they thus distinguish 
justice and sincerity from a perception of what is sincere 
and just; and afterwards, as they shun and hold in aver- 
sion the evil of this passion, they love these goods, and 
from loving them bring them into act, without exercising 
any compulsion upon themselves. These goods are 
derived from the Lord, because they are in themselves 
goods. But it is otherwise, if the passion for getting gain 
insincerely and unjustly- remains with man; for in this 
case he cannot do what is sincere from a principle of 



THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 99 

sincerity, nor what is just from a principle of justice, that 
is, from the Lord, but what he does is from himself. For 
he does it that he may acquire the credit of being sincere 
and just, for the sake of the ends which he has in view, 
viz., that he may get greater gain or acquire honor ; these 
are the ends in his goods, and it is from the end that all 
the quality of the good is derived. This good has in it 
evil, because its quality is derived from the proposed end 
of getting gain insincerely and unjustly. Every one may 
see that good of this kind cannot become good in itself, 
until the evil is removed. The case is similar with 
regard to all the other commandments of the decalogue. 
64. Man is removed from evils in proportion as he is 
removed from hell, for evils and hell are one ; in the 
same proportion he also enters into goods, and is con- 
joined into heaven, for goods and heaven are one. He 
then becomes another man; his freedom, his good, his 
mind, as well as his understanding and will, are inverted ; 
for he becomes an angel of heaven. His freedom, which 
before had been the freedom of thinking and willing evil, 
becomes the freedom of thinking and willing good, which 
in itself is essential freedom. It is in this freedom that he 
first knows what freedom is, because from the freedom of 
evil he had felt the freedom of good as slavery ; but he 
now feels from the freedom of good, that the freedom of 
evil is slavery ; for this is its true character. The good 
which he had done before, because it was derived from 
the freedom of evil, could not be good in reality, there 
having been in it the love of self or of the world ; because 
good does not exist from any other origin than love. 
Hence it is that the good is of the same quality as the 
love, for even when the love is evil, its delight is still felt 
as a good, although it is really an evil. But the good 



100 THE ATHANASIAN CKEED. 

which he does afterwards, is good in realitj r , because it 
proceeds from the Lord, who, as was said above, is essen- 
tial good. His mind, before it was conjoined to heaven, 
was turned backwards, because it had not yet been led 
out of hell. When also it is in a state of reformation, it 
looks from truth to good, thus from the left to the right, 
which is contrary to order; but after it is conjoined with 
heaven, it looks from the right to the left, that is, from 
good to truth, which is in agreement with order. Such 
is the way in which the inversion is effected. The case 
is similar with his understanding and will ; because the 
former is the recipient of truth, and the latter the recipient 
of good. Before he is led out of hell, these faculties do 
not act as one ; for he then sees and acknowledges, from 
his understanding many things which have no place in 
his will, because they are not objects of his love. But 
when he is conjoined to heaven, his understanding and 
will then act as one, the former becoming the agent of 
the latter. For when the inversion is effected, the object 
of his will is also the object of his love, and thus the 
object of his will, deriving its origin from his love, is the 
object of his thoughts. In this way, after he is removed 
from evils by means of resistance and combat against 
them as if from himself, he comes into the love of truth 
and good, and then his thoughts are, in- all respects, in 
agreement with his will, and the words which clothe the 
former are in agreement with the actions which proceed 
from the latter. 

65. There are in man two faculties of life ; the one is 
called the understanding, the other the will. They are 
altogether distinct from each other, but are created to 
form one ; and when they do so, they are called one 
mind ; they are however at first divided, but are after- 



THE ATHAN ASIAN CREED. 101 

wards united. They are distinct, precisely like light and 
heat ; for the understanding is derived from the light of 
heaven, which in its essence is Divine Truth or Divine 
Wisdom, and, whilst man is in the world, it sees from 
this light, thinking, reasoning, and forming its conclu- 
sions, from it. Man is however ignorant of this fact, 
because he knows nothing of -this light or of its origin. 
The will again is derived from the heat of heaven, which 
in its essence is the Divine Good, or the Divine Love, 
and whilst man is in the world, it loves from this heat, 
deriving all its gratification and delight from it. Man is 
again ignorant of this fact, because he knows nothing of 
this light or of its origin. Now because the understand- 
ing sees from the light of heaven, it is evident that it is 
the subject and the receptacle t>f this light, thus also the 
subject and the receptacle of truth and of the wisdom 
originating in it. And because the will loves from the 
heat of heaven, it is evident that it is the subject and the 
receptacle of this heat, thus also the subject and recep- 
tacle of good, and thus of love. Hence it may be clearly 
seen that these two faculties of man's life are distinct, 
like light and heat, truth and good, or wisdom and love. 
That they are also at first divided, is plainly perceptible 
from the fact, that man is able to understand truth, and, 
from truth, good, as well as to express his approval of 
the latter, without either admitting it into his will, or 
from his will acting in accordance with it. For he under- 
stands the nature of truth, and from it the nature of good, 
when he hears the former spoken, or reads it, so much 
so, that he can afterwards, as a preacher or an author, 
impart it to others. But when he is alone and thinks 
from his own spirit, he can then observe that this truth 
has no place in his will, that his will is even to do con- 



102 THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 

trary to it, and that he actually does so, when his fears 
do not restrain him. Such is the character of those who 
can speak intelligently on such subjects, and yet live 
otherwise; this is seeing one law in their spirit, and 
another in their flesh, the spirit being the understanding, 
and the flesh the will. This disagreement between the 
understanding and the will is perceived chiefly by those 
who desire to be reformed, and but little by others ; the 
cause of its existence is, that the understanding in man 
is not destroyed, though the will is so. For the under- 
standing is comparatively like the light of the world, by 
which man may see with equal clearness in the time of 
winter as in that of summer; while the will again is 
comparatively like the heat of the world, which may be 
either absent from the ligkt or present with it, for in the 
time of winter it is absent, but present in that of summer. 
The true state of the case is this, that nothing but the 
will destroys the understanding, as nothing but the 
absence of heat destroys the germinations of the earth. 
The understanding is destroyed by the will in the case 
of those who are in evils, when the understanding and 
will act in unity, but not otherwise. They act in unity 
when man thinks by himself from his own love, but they 
do not so act when he is in company with others ; for in 
the latter case he conceals and thus removes his will's 
real love, and when this is removed, his understanding 
is elevated to a higher light. Experience may also serve 
as a confirmation on this point. I have occasionally 
heard spirits converse with each other, as well as with 
myself, so wisely that an angel could scarcely have con- 
versed more so, and from this, I have been led to think 
that they would soon be elevated to heaven ; but after a 
time I have seen them with the wicked in hell. I was 



THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 103 

surprised at this, but was then permitted to hear them 
converse in a totally different manner, not in favor of 
truths, as formerly, but in opposition to them ; the reason 
being that they were now in the love belonging to their 
real will and understanding, but on the former occasion 
they were not. I have also been permitted to see how 
man's proprium is distinguished from that which is not 
so, for this may be seen in the light of heaven. The 
proprium resides in the interiors, but that which is not 
so, in the exteriors ; the former being veiled and con- 
cealed by the latter, so that it does not appear until the 
veil is removed, which is done in the case of all after 
death. I have observed also that many were astonished 
at what they saw and heard, but they were those who 
judge of the state of a man's soul, from his conversation 
and writings, without taking into account the actions 
which proceed from his real will. From these circum- 
stances it is plain, that these two faculties in man are at 
first divided. We shall now speak of their union. They 
are united in the case of those who are reformed, the 
union being effected by means of combat against the 
evils of the will. For when these are removed, the will 
for good acts in unity with the understanding of truth. 
Hence it follows that the quality of the understanding is 
the same as that of the will ; or, what is the same thing, 
that the quality of the wisdom is the same as that of the 
love. The reason that the former is of the same quality 
as the latter is, that the love belonging to the will is the 
esse of man's life, and the wisdom belonging to~ the 
understanding is its existere. The love therefore which 
belongs to the will forms itself in the understanding, the 
form which it there receives being that which is called 
wisdom ; for since both have one essence, it is plain that 



104: THE ATHAN ASIAN CREED. 

•wisdom is the form of love, or love existing in form. 
After these faculties are thus united by reformation, the 
love of the will then increases daily by means of spiritual 
nourishment in the understanding, for it is there that it 
has its affection for truth and good, an affection resem- 
bling an appetite that longs for sustenance. From the 
above it is plain that the will is the faculty which must 
be reformed, and that so far as it is reformed, the under- 
standing discerns, that is, becomes wise ; for, as was said 
above, the will — but not the understanding — is destroyed. 
The will and the understanding also make one in the 
case of the unreformed or evil, if not in this world, at 
all events after death ; for after death man is permitted 
to think from his understanding only in accordance with 
the love of his will, every one being at last brought to 
this condition. The evil love of the will then has its 
own form in the understanding, and this form, because 
it originates in the falsities of evil, is insanity. 

66. To the preceding observations we must add the 
following : 

I. That before reformation, the light of the under- 
standing is as the light of the moon, clear according to 
the knowledges of truth and good ; but after reformation 
it is as the light of the sun, clear according to the applica- 
tion of those knowledges to the uses of life. 

II. The reason that the understanding has not been 
destroyed is, that man may be able to become acquainted 
with truths, and from them to see the evils of his will ; 
and, when he sees them, to resist them as if from him- 
self, and thus be reformed. 

III. But still man is not reformed in virtue of his un- 
derstanding, but by means of his understanding acknow- 
ledging truths, and, in consequence of them, discerning 



THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 105 

evils ; for the operation of the Lord's Divine Providence 
is upon the love of man's will, and, from that love, upon 
his understanding — not from his understanding upon the 
love of his will. 

IV. That the will's love, according to its quality, 
imparts intelligence ; natural love derived from spiritual 
imparting intelligence in things civil and moral ; but 
spiritual love in natural imparting intelligence in things 
spiritual. But love merely natural with the conceit aris- 
ing from it, imparts no intelligence in things spiritual, 
but rather the faculty of confirming whatever it pleases ; 
and after such confirmation, the understanding is so in- 
fatuated by it, that it sees falsity as truth, and evil as 
good. This love does not however entirely take away 
the faculty of understanding truths in their own light ; 
when it is present, it takes it away, but not when it is 
absent. 

V. When the will is reformed, and the wisdom, which 
belongs to the understanding, becomes that of the love, 
which belongs to the w T ill ; or when wisdom becomes the 
love of truth and of good in its own form, man is then 
like a garden in the season of spring, when heat is united 
to light, imparting soul to the germinations of the natural 
world. For the germinations of the spiritual world are 
the productions of wisdom originating in love, there 
being in this case in every production a soul derived 
from such love, its clothing originating in wisdom. The 
will is thus as it were the father, and the understanding 
as the mother. 

VI. Such then is the life of man, not only the life of 
his mind (animus), but also that of his body ; because the 
life of the former acts in unity with the life of the latter 
by correspondences. For the life of his will or love cor- 

5* 



106 THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 

responds to the life of his heart, while the life of his 
understanding or wisdom corresponds to that of his 
lungs ; and these are the two sources of his bodily life. 
Man is not aware that such is the case ; it is notwith- 
standing from this view of the subject that an evil man 
cannot live in heaven, nor a good man in hell. For the 
one as well as the other becomes as it were dead, if he is 
not amongst those with whom the life of his will, and 
that of his understanding originating in it, do not act in 
unity ; amongst such — and amongst such only — does his 
heart freely reciprocate, and his lungs, which derive their 
action from it, freely respire. 

67. The ninth law of the Divine Providence is : That 
the Lord does not without the use of means teach man 
truths either from Himself or through the angels / hut 
that He teaches him oy means derived from the Word, 
from preaching and reading, from conversation and 
intercourse with others, and from private reflections 
arising out of them, and that man is then enlightened 
according to his affection for truth grounded in use / 
otherwise he would not act as if from himself 

These propositions follow as consequences from the 
laws of the Divine Providence which have been before 
explained, viz., that man should be in a state of freedom, 
and act in all that he does from reason ; that from his 
understanding he should think as if from himself, and 
thence from his will act as if from himself ; and further 
that he should not be driven by means of miracles or 
visions to believe or act, in any case whatever. These 
laws are immutable, because they are laws of the Divine 
Wisdom, and at the same time of the Divine Love ; they 
would however be disturbed, if man were taught without 
the use of means, either by influx or by oral instruction. 



THE ATHAN ASIAN CKEED. 107 

The Lord moreover enters by influx into the interiors of 
man's mind, and through them into its exteriors, into the 
affection also of his will, and through it into the thought 
of his understanding ; but not through the thought of 
his understanding into the affection of his will. To en- 
ter by influx into the interiors of the mind, and through 
them into its exteriors, is to take root, and from the root 
to produce, the root being in the interiors, and the pro- 
duce in the exteriors. To enter again by influx into the 
affection of the will, and through it into the thought of 
the understanding, is first to inspire the soul and through 
it to give form to everything else ; for the affection of 
the will is as it were a soul through which the thoughts 
of the understanding are formed. This again is influx 
from the internal into the external, which is the kind of 
influx that exists. Man knows nothing whatever of the 
influx which enters into the interiors of his mind, nor of 
that which enters into the affection of his will,* [but if he 
were aware of its existence, and judged of it from bis 
natural impressions, he would say] that it entered into 
the exteriors of his mind, and into the thought of his 
understanding, [without passing through the interiors of 
his mind and the affection of his will], and this would be 
to produce without a root, and to form without a soul. 
Every man may see that this would be contrary to divine 



* There is here some little confusion in the Latin text, arising either 
from an error in the printing, or from a defect in the original MS. The 
words occasioning difficulty are : " sed de eo sciturus est, 11 and the proba- 
ble omission of a clause after them. If we might be allowed a conjec- 
ture, perhaps the following slight change would make the Latin clear : 
il sed de eo si aliquid sciret, diceret quod," &c. By the help of the words 
inserted above between [ ], we hope the Author's meaning is clear. — 
Translator. 



108 THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 

order, consequently that it would be to destroy, and not 
to build up. From these considerations the truth of this 
law of the Divine Providence is evident. 

68. It cannot however be known how the Lord enters 
by influx, and how man is accordingly led, from any 
other source than the spiritual world. There man is 
with regard to his spirit, thus with regard to his affec- 
tions and the thoughts derived from them ; for thoughts 
and affections constitute his spirit. It is this that 
thinks from its own affection, and not the body. The 
affections of man, from which his thoughts proceed, 
extend into the societies there in every direction, into 
more or fewer of them, according to the extent and the 
quality of his affection. Within these societies is man as 
to his spirit, attached to them as it were with extended 
cords circumscribing the space in which he walks. As 
he proceeds from one affection to another, so he proceeds 
from one society to another, and the part of the society 
in which he is, is the centre from which issue his affec- 
tion and the thought originating in it to all the other 
societies as circumferences. These societies are thus in 
unbroken connexion with the affections of the centre, 
from which he at the time thinks and speaks. He 
acquires for himself this sphere — which is the sphere of 
his affections and their thoughts — whilst he is in the 
world ; if he is evil, in hell ; but if he is good, in heaven. 
He is not aware that such is the case, because he is not 
aware that such things exist. Through these societies 
the man, that is, his mind, walks free, although bound, 
led by the Lord, nor does he take a step into which and 
from which he is not so led. It is, moreover, continually 
provided that he should have no other knowledge than 
that he proceeds of himself in perfect liberty ; he is per- 



THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 109 

mitted to persuade himself of this, because it is from a 
law of the Divine Providence, that he should be taken 
whither his affection desires. If his affection is evil, he 
is taken round through the societies of hell, and if he 
does not look to the Lord, he is brought into them more 
inwardly and more deeply ; but still the Lord leads him 
as it were by the hand, permitting and withdrawing him, 
so far as he is willing from freedom to follow. On the 
other hand, if he looks to the Lord, he is conducted from 
these societies successively, according to the order and 
connexion in which they are arranged, and this order 
and connexion are known to no one but the Lord alone. 
It is thus that he is brought by continuous degrees out 
of hell, upwards towards heaven, and into heaven. The 
Lord effects this without man's knowledge, because^ if 
man were aware of it, he would disturb the continuity of 
that progress by leading himself. It is sufficient that 
man learns truths from the Word, and, by means of 
them, the nature of goods, and then, from truths and 
goods, the nature of evils and falsities ; in order that he 
may be capable of being affected by the former, and unin- 
fluenced by the latter. Before he is acquainted with 
goods and truths, he has indeed the power of knowing 
evils and falsities, but not of seeing and perceiving them. 
It is in this way and in no other that man can be led 
from affection to affection in freedom, and as if from him- 
self. If he acknowledges the Divine Providence of the 
Lord in every single particular, he is then led in agree- 
ment with his affection for truth and good, by the Lord's 
guidance ; but if he does not acknowledge it, he is then 
led, in agreement with his affection for evil and falsity, 
by the Lord's permission. He can moreover be led in no 
other way, so as to be able to receive intelligence corre- 



110 THE ATHAN ASIAN CREED. 

sponding to his affection ; for he receives it so far as from 
truths he fights against evils as if from himself. It is 
necessary that this should be disclosed, because it is not 
known that the Divine Providence is continual, and 
operative in the most minute particulars of man's life, 
the reason of this ignorance being that the mode of its 
operation is unknown. 

69. This being premised, we shall now explain what 
affection is, in the next place we shall show why man is 
led by the Lord by means of his affections rather than 
his thoughts, and lastly, that he cannot in any other way 
be saved. First. What is the nature and meaning of affec- 
tion. The meaning of the term affection, is similar to 
that of love. But love is as it were the fountain, and 
affections are as it were the streams flowing from it ; 
they are thus also continuations of it. Love is as a foun- 
tain in man's will ; his affections, which are its streams, 
flow by continuity into his understanding, and there, by 
means of light from truths, they produce thoughts, pre- 
cisely as the influences of heat in a garden produce the 
germinations of plants, by means of the rays of light. 
Love also is in its origin the heat of heaven, truths in 
like manner are the rays of the light of heaven, and 
thoughts are the germinations arising from their conjugal 
union. From such a union spring all the societies of 
heaven, which are innumerable, and which in their 
essence are affections; for they are derived from love 
which is the heat, and from wisdom which is the light, 
proceeding from the Lord as a sun. Hence these socie- 
ties, in proportion as the heat- in them is united to the 
light, and the light to the heat, are affections of good and 
truth ; in this source originate the thoughts of all who 
form these societies. From this it is evident that the 



THE ATH AN ASIAN CKEED. Ill 

societies of heaven are not thoughts, but affections ; that 
consequently to be led by these societies is to be led by 
affections, or to be led by affections is to be led by socie- 
ties, and therefore in what now follows, instead of societies 
the term affections shall be employed. 

Secondly. We shall now show why man is led by the 
Lord by means of his affections rather than his thoughts. 
When man is led by the Lord by means of his affections, 
he is capable of being led according to all the laws of the 
Lord's Divine Providence; but not so if he is led by 
means of his thoughts ; for the affections do not show 
themselves before the man, but the thoughts do so. The 
affections again produce thoughts, but the thoughts do 
not produce affections ; it appears indeed as if the 
thoughts had this power, but it is a fallacy. And since 
the affections produce thoughts, they also produce every- 
thing belonging to man. because they constitute his life. 
This is also well known in the world. For if you keep 
a man in his own affection, you have him in bonds, and 
lead him where you please, and in this case one reason is 
of as much avail as a thousand ; but if you do not keep 
him in his own affection, reasons are of no avail ; for his 
affection, not being in harmony with them, perverts 
them, rejects them, or destroys them. The case would 
be similar if the Lord were to lead man by means of his 
thoughts rather than his affections, without the interven- 
tion of other means. Since also man is led by the Lord 
by means of his affections, it appears to him as if he 
thought freely from himself, as if he spoke also and acted 
in the same way. Hence then it is that the Lord does not 
teach man without the use of means, but by the employ- 
ment of them, such, for instance, are those derived from 
the Word, from doctrines and preaching founded on the 



112 THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 

Word, and from conversation and intercourse with others ; 
for from these man thinks freely as if from himself. 

Thirdly. That man cannot in any other way be saved. 
This follows both from what has been said respecting the 
laws of the Divine Providence, and also from the obser- 
vation just made, that thoughts do not produce affections 
in man. For if man knew the whole contents of the 
Word, and the whole extent of the doctrines founded 
upon it, even to the arcana of wisdom which the angels 
possess, and moreover thought and spoke them, while his 
thoughts were still the concupiscences of evil, it would 
notwithstanding be impossible for him to be led out of 
hell by the Lord. Hence it is evident that if man were 
taught by influx from heaven into his thoughts, it would 
be like a man casting seed upon the highway, into water 
or snow, or even into fire. 

70. Since the Divine Providence acts upon the affec- 
tions, which belong to man's love and thence to his will, 
leading him in and from his own affection into another 
that has a near affinity with it, by means of freedom, 
but so imperceptibly that he is not at all aware of the 
mode in which it acts, and even scarcely knows that such 
a thing as a Divine Providence exists, the consequence 
is, that many men deny it, and confirm themselves in 
opposition to it. This arises from various causes which 
occur and are apparent in the world ; such, for instance, 
as that the devices and artifices of the wicked are success- 
ful ; that impiety prevails ; that there is a hell ; that 
there is a blindness of understanding in spiritual things, 
and so many heresies arising from it, each of which, 
deriving its origin from one head, spreads into congrega- 
tions and nations, and thus becomes permanent. Such 
are Popery, Lutheranism, Calvinism, Melancthonism, 



THE ATHAXASIAX CEEED. 113 

Moravianism, Arianism, Socinianism, Quakerism, Enthu- 
siasm, and even Judaism ; and amongst these are Natu- 
ralism and Atheism. Beyond the confines of Europe 
again, throughout several kingdoms, Mahometanism pre- 
vails as well as heathenism ; the latter embracing various 
kinds of worship, and in some instances indicating a 
total absence of all worship. All men who do not reflect 
upon these subjects in accordance with divine truth, 
deny in their hearts that any Divine Providence exists ; 
those who hesitate to assert this affirm indeed that a Pro- 
vidence exists, but that it is merely of a general charac- 
ter. Both the one and the other, when they are told 
that there is a Divine Providence operative in the most 
minute affairs of man's life, either withhold their atten- 
tion altogether, or regard the subject with little interest. 
Those who pay no attention to it, cast it behind them, 
and go their way. Those again who bestow upon it 
some attention are also like men going their way, and 
yet turning round their faces merely to see whether there 
is really anything in what they are told ; and when they 
see it, saying in their own minds, that such is the com- 
mon report. Some even of these make this affirmation 
with their lips and not from the heart. Since then it is 
of importance that the blindness arising from ignorance, 
or the darkness occasioned by the absence of light, should 
be dispersed, we shall be permitted to see : I. That the 
Lord teaches no man without the use of means, but by 
such means as are within man's reach, derived from his 
hearing and sight. II. That the Lord nevertheless pro- 
vides that man should be capable of being reformed and 
saved by means of the religion which he adopts from 
that source, in. That the Lord provides for every nation 
a universal medium of salvation. 



114 THE ATHAN ASIAN CEEED. 

71. I. That the Lord teaches no man without the use of 
means, but by such means as are within man's reach, de- 
rived from his hearing and sight. 

This follows from what was said above, to which we 
must add, that no immediate revelation is given but that 
which has been given in the Word ; of this kind is that 
contained in the Prophets and Evangelists, and in the 
historical books. Such is its nature, that every man may 
be taught from it, according to the affections of bis love, 
and the thoughts of his understanding derived from them. 
Yery little, it is true, can they be taught who are not, 
with regard to their life, principled in good ; but those 
who are so, can be taught much, for they are taught by 
enlightenment from the Lord. The nature of the en- 
lightenment is as follows : — Light conjoined to heat 
enters by influx through heaven from the Lord. This 
heat, which is the divine love, affects the will, from 
which man derives his affection for good. This light 
again, which is the divine wisdom, affects the under- 
standing, from which man derives the thought of truth. 
From these two sources — the will and the understand- 
ing — all things which belong to man's love and know- 
ledge are affected, but those only which refer to the sub- 
ject are called forth into exercise, and required to be 
present. Enlightenment is effected in this way by the 
Lord through the Word, everything in which, from the 
spiritual principle which it contains, is in communication 
with heaven, and the Lord enters, by influx through 
heaven, into that which is at the time the subject of man's 
contemplation. The influx is also continual and univer- 
sal, extending in the case of every one to the most 
minute particulars. It resembles the heat and light pro- 
ceeding from the sun of the world, which operate upon 



THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 115 

all the collective and several objects that grow upon the 
earth, so that they vegetate according to the quality of 
their seed, and their reception of the sun's influence. 
What then must be the operation of that heat and light 
which proceed from the Divine Sun, and from which all 
things live ! To be enlightened through heaven by the 
Lord, is to be enlightened through the Holy Spirit ; for 
the Holy Spirit is the Divine Proceeding from the Lord 
as a sun, from whom heaven has its being. Hence it is 
evident that the Lord teaches the man who belongs to 
His church mediately through the Word, according to 
that love of his will which he acquires by means of his 
life; according also to that ligftt of his understanding 
which he derives from his love, by means of his know- 
ledge ; and it is further evident that the teaching cannot 
be communicated in any other way, because this is the 
divine order of influx. This then is the reason that the 
Christian religion is divided into churches, and into here- 
sies within them, generally and particularly. Those, on 
the other hand, who are- not within the boundaries of the 
Christian world, nor in possession of the Word, are also 
taught in the same way ; for they are taught by means 
of the religion which they have in place of the Word, 
and partly derived from it. The religion of the Maho- 
metans is in some respects taken from the Word, of both 
the Old and New Testaments. In the case of others, 
their religion is derived from an ancient Word which 
was afterwards lost. With some, again, their religious 
belief has descended from the ancient church which was 
in possession of this ancient Word, and was, like the 
church in our day, divided into a number of sects. From 
these sources the religious tenets of several nations were 
derived ; but in many instances they became, in process of 



116 THE ATHAN ASIAN CREED. 

time, more or less idolatrous. They whose forms of wor- 
ship are from this origin, are taught by the Lord medi- 
ately through their own religion, in the same way as 
Christians are taught through the Word. It is effected, 
as we have said, by the Lord through heaven, and thence 
by calling their will and understanding into exercise. 
But the enlightenment, by means of the forms of religion 
of which we have been speaking, is not like that derived 
from the Word. In the former case it resembles the 
evening when the moon shines with more or less bright- 
ness ; but in the latter, it resembles the day when the sun 
shines with more or less brightness from the morning till 
mid-day. Hence the Lord's church extending through- 
out the whole world resembles, with regard to its light, 
which is the divine wisdom, the day from mid-day to 
evening, and till night; and, with regard to its heat, 
which is the divine love, the year from spring to au- 
tumn, and till winter. 

72. II. That the Lord nevertheless provides that man 
should be capable of being reformed and saved by means of the 
religion which he adopts from that source. Throughout the 
whole world, where there is any religion, there are two 
parties to constitute it. These are God and man, for there 
must be conjunction between them. There are also two 
things which constitute this conjunction : the good of 
love, and the truth of faith ; the former being derived 
immediately, but the latter mediately from God. It is 
again the former hj which God leads man, and the latter 
by which man is led. This is the same thing as was said 
above. The truth of faith appears to man as if it were 
his own, because it is derived from the things which he 
acquires for himself as if from himself. God therefore 
conjoins Himself to man by means of the good of love, 



THE ATHAN ASIAN CREED, 117 

and man conjoins himself to God by means of the truth 
of- faith. Because such is the nature of this conjunction, 
the Lord accordingly compares himself to a bridegroom 
and a husband, and the church to a bride and a wife. 
The Lord continually enters by influx with the full good 
of love, though He cannot be conjoined to man in the 
full truth of faith, but only in that degree of it which 
man possesses, and this varies. The fulness may exist 
in a greater degree with those who live in countries pos- 
sessed of the Word, and less fully with those who live 
where the "Word is unknown ; but still it varies both 
with the one and the other, according to their knowledge, 
and their life in agreement with it. Hence it is, that it 
may be greater in the case of those who have not the 
Word, than in the case of those who have it. The con- 
junction of God with man, and of man with God, is 
taught in the two Tables which were written with the 
finger of God, and are called the Tables of the Covenant, 
the Testimony and the Law. In the one is God, in the 
other man. These Tables are found with all nations with 
whom there is any religion. All nations know from the 
first Table, that God is to be acknowledged ; that He is 
to be hallowed and worshipped. They know from the 
other Table, that stealing is not to be committed, either 
openly, or covertly by means of wicked devices ; nor 
adultery, nor murder, either by the open violence of the 
hand, or by the secret hatred of the heart; nor false 
witness borne, either in the presence of a judge, or. before 
the world ; and further, that these crimes ought not to 
exist even in the will. Man knows from his Table the 
evils which are to be shunned, and in proportion as he 
knows them and shuns them, God conjoins him to Him- 
self, and enables him from His Table to acknowledge 



118 THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 

Him, to hallow Him, and to worship Him. He enables 
him further to put away evils from his will, and so far as 
he does so, to become acquainted with truths in their 
fulness. The two Tables are thus conjoined in man, the 
Table of God being set above the Table of man, and 
they are put as one into the Ark, and above it. is the 
mercy-seat, which is the Lord; above the mercy-seat 
again are the two Cherubim, which are the Word and 
that which proceeds from it, and in the Word the Lord 
talks with man, as He did with Moses and Aaron between 
the Cherubim. Since then the conjunction of the Lord 
with, man, and of man with the Lord, is produced by 
these means, it is evident that every one who is acquainted 
with them, and lives according to them, in agreement 
not only with the civil and moral law, but also with the 
Divine law, is saved ; thus every one in his own religion 
whether he is a Christian, a Mahometan, or a heathen. 
And what is more, the man who embodies these princi- 
ples in his life, from a religious motive, although in the 
world he knows nothing either of the Lord or of the 
Word, is in that state with regard to his spirit, that from 
his will he desires to be wise. He is therefore after death 
trained by the angels, and acknowledges the Lord ; he 
also receives truths according to his affection, and becomes 
an angel. Every one of this description resembles a man 
who dies an infant; for he is led by the Lord, and 
brought up by the angels. Those who have no religious 
worship, in consequence of ignorance arising from their 
being born in this or that country, are also trained after 
death like infants, and according to their civil and moral 
life they receive the means of salvation. I have seen 
such persons, and at first they had not the appearance of 
men ; but afterwards I saw them as men and heard them 



THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 119 

speak sensibly in accordance with the commandments of 
the decalogue. To train such persons is the angels' inmost 
joy. From these observations it is now evident that the 
Lord provides that every man should be capable of being 
saved. 

73. III. That the Lord provides for every nation a uni- 
versal medium of salvation. 

It is evident from what was said above, that man, in 
whatever religion he lives, is capable of being saved. 
For he is acquainted with the evils and the falsities 
arising from them, which are to be shunned, and when 
he shuns them, he becomes acquainted with the goods 
which are to be done, and the truths which are to be 
believed. The goods which he does and the truths which 
he believes, before he has shunned evils, are not goods 
and truths in themselves, because they are from man, 
and not from the Lord. The reason that before this 
they are not goods and truths in themselves is, that they 
have no life in man. The man who knows all the goods 
and truths that are possible to be known, and does not 
shun evils, knows nothing ; for his evils absorb them and 
cast them out, and he becomes feeble in his understanding, 
not indeed in the world, but after his departure from it. 
When therefore any man, in any religion whatever, is 
acquainted both with the evils and the falsities arising 
from them, which he is to shun, and as he shuns them 
becomes acquainted with the goods which he is to do, 
and the truths which he is to believe, it is evident that 
a universal medium of salvation has been provided 
by the Lord, in the case of every nation possessing 
a religion. This medium exists in all its fulness with 
Christians; it exists also, though not in fulness, with 
Mahometans and heathens. All other points which form 



120 THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 

the distinction between them, are either matters of 
ceremony, in themselves indifferent, or they are goods 
and truths which may be either done and believed or 
not, and man yet be saved. In each case man sees the 
quality of goods and truths, after evils are removed ; 
the Christian seeing it from the Word, the Mahometan 
from the Koran, and the heathen from his religion. The 
Christian sees from the Word that God is one ; that the 
Lord is the Saviour of the world ; that all good and 
truth, in reality such, are from God, and nothing from 
man ; that Baptism and the Holy Supper are of divine 
appointment ; that there is a heaven and a hell ; that 
there is a life after death ; that the man who does good 
is admitted into heaven, but that the man who does evil 
is removed to hell. The Christian believes these things 
from a principle of truth, and does them from a princi- 
ple of love, if he is not living in evil. All other points 
which are not in agreement with these and the decalogue, 
he is at liberty to omit. The Mahometan sees from the 
Koran, that God is one ; that the Lord is the Son of 
God ; that all good is from God ; that there is a heaven 
and a hell ; that there is a life after death, and that 
the evils forbidden in the decalogue are to be shunned ; 
if he acts according to the latter, and believes the former, 
he is also saved. The heathen sees from his religion, 
that there is a God, that he is to be hallowed and 
worshipped, that good proceeds from Him ; that there is 
a heaven and a hell ; that there is a life after death ; that 
the evils forbidden in the decalogue are to be shunned ; 
if he acts according to the latter, and believes the former, 
he is saved. And because most of the heathen perceive 
God as a man, and the God-man is the Lord, therefore 
after death, when they are trained by the angels, they 



THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 121 

acknowledge the Lord, and afterwards receive truths 
from him, of which they were before ignorant. That 
they have not the ordinances of Baptism and the Holy 
Supper, is no ground of condemnation ; these ordinances 
being intended for those alone who are in possession of 
the Word from which the Lord is known ; for they are 
the symbols of His Church, and the attestation and 
assurance that those who believe and live according to 
His commandments in the Word are saved. 

74. Some observations shall now be made on the sub- 
ject of spirits speaking with man. Many persons are 
under the belief that man may be taught by God by 
means of spirits speaking with him. But those who 
believe this, and foster the belief in their will, are not 
aware that it is connected with danger to their souls. 
Man is, as to his spirit, as long as he lives in the world, 
in the midst of spirits ; but the spirits are not aware that 
they are near man, nor is man aware that he is in 
connexion with spirits. The reason is, that they are 
conjoined immediately as to the affections of the will, 
and mediately as to the thoughts of the understanding; 
for man thinks naturally, but spirits think spiritually ; 
and further, natural thought and spiritual make one only 
by correspondences. It is this that prevents men and 
spirits from knowing anything of each other. But as 
soon as spirits begin to speak with man, they leave their 
own spiritual state and enter into man's natural state ; 
and being then aware that they are with man, they con- 
join themselves with the thoughts of his affection, and 
from them converse with him. They cannot enter into 
anything but man's natural state, for similar affection 
with the thought derived from it effects conjunction in 
all cases, but dissimilar affection causes separation. It is 

6 



122 THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 

from this circumstance that when a spirit speaks, he is 
in the same principles as the man with whom he speaks, 
whether those principles are true or false ; and further, 
that he calls them into activity, and by means of his own 
affection conjoined to that of the man strongly confirms 
them. Hence it is evident that only similar spirits speak 
with man, or operate manifestly upon him ; for manifest 
operation coincides with speech. For this reason none 
but enthusiastic spirits speak with enthusiasts ; none but 
Quaker spirits operate upon Quakers ; or Moravian 
spirits upon Moravians. The case would be similar with 
Arians, Socinians, and other sectarians. All spirits that 
speak with man were once men in the world, and were 
then of the same character. I have been enabled by 
repeated experience to know that such is the case. And 
what moreover is ridiculous is, that when a man imagines 
that the spirit speaking with him, or operating upon 
him, is the Holy Spirit, the spirit also himself believes 
that he is so. This is common in the case of enthusiastic 
spirits. The danger is thus evident to which a man is 
exposed who speaks with spirits, or manifestly perceives 
their operation. For he is ignorant of the quality of his 
own affection, whether it is good or evil, or with what 
other affections it is conjoined ; and if he has a conceit 
of his own intelligence, the spirit humors every thought 
which proceeds from his affection. So also if any one 
has a partiality for certain principles fanned into a flame 
by any fire existing amongst those who are not in truths 
from any genuine affection, the consequences are similar, 
For, when a spirit from a similar affection humors a 
man's thoughts or principles, the one then leads the 
other, like the blind leading the blind, until they both 
fall into the ditch. The Pythonic diviners — that is, those 



THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 123 

who were believed to be inspired by Apollo, the Pythian 
god — were formerly of this description ; the Magi also in 
Egypt and Babel ; and on account of their conversing 
with spirits, and the operation of the spirits upon them 
being openly felt, were both called wise. But it was by 
this means that the worship of God was converted into 
the worship of demons, and the church perished. Such 
means of intercourse were accordingly forbidden to the 
children of Israel on pain of death. 

75. The case is otherwise with those whom the Lord 
leads. He leads those who love and will truths from 
Himself. They are enlightened when they read the 
Word, for the Lord is present in it, and speaks with 
every one according to his capacity. If persons of this 
description hear the speech which proceeds from spirits, 
as is also, sometimes the case, they are not taught by it, 
but are led with such precaution, that in each case the 
man is still left to himself. For, as was before observed, 
ever}' man is led by the Lord through his affections, and 
thinks from them, as if from himself, in freedom. If the 
case were otherwise, he would be incapable of reforma- 
tion, and could not possibly be enlightened. Men are, 
however, enlightened in various degrees, each according 
to the quality of his affection, and his intelligence derived 
from it. They who are in the spiritual affection of truth 
are elevated into the light of heaven to such a degree 
that they perceive the enlightenment. I have been per- 
mitted to see this enlightenment, and from it to perceive 
distinctly that which proceeds from the Lord, and that 
which proceeds from the angels ; that which proceeds from 
the Lord is written, but not so that which proceeds from 
the angels. I have, besides, been permitted to converse 
with the angels, as man converses with man, and also to 



124 THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 

see the objects which are in heaven, and those which are 
in hell. The reason of this was, that the end of the 
present church is approaching, and the beginning of the 
New Church is at hand, which will be the New Jeru- 
salem. It is necessary that it should be revealed to this 
church that the Lord governs the universe, both heaven 
and the world ; that there is a heaven and a hell, and 
what is the quality of each ; that men live also as men 
after death ; in heaven, those who are led by the Lord, 
but in hell, those who are guided by themselves ; that 
the Word is the Divine Principle itself of the Lord on 
the earth ; and further, that the last judgment is accom- 
plished, lest man should be for ever expecting it to take 
place in his own world ; besides many other things 
relating to the light which is now arising after the 
darkness. 

76. The tenth law of the Divine Providence is : That 
man from his own prudence has led himself to eminence 
and opulence, when they lead astray, for he is led of the 
Divine Providence to such things as do not lead astray, but 
are serviceable ivith regard to eternal life; for all the dealings 
of the Divine Providence in relation to him regard ivhat is 
eternal, because the life which is God, and from which man 
is man, is eternal. There are two things which principally 
affect the minds (amnios) of men, viz., eminence and 
opulence. The former originates in the love of glory 
and honors, the latter in the love of money and pos- 
sessions. They principally affect the mind, because they 
specially belong to the natural man, and hence merely 
natural men have no other notion regarding them than 
that they are real blessings, which proceed from God, 
though they may possibly be curses, as may be clearly 
inferred from the fact, that they are found in the posses- 



THE ATH AN ASIAN CREED. 125 

sion of the evil as well as of the good. The eminent 
and the opulent have been seen by me in the heavens, 
and also in the hells, and therefore, as has been observed, 
when eminence and opulence do not lead astray, they 
proceed from God ; but when they do so, they are 
derived from hell. The reason that man does not in the 
world distinguish whether they are the gifts of heaven, 
or whether they are derived from hell, is, that they can- 
not be distinguished by the natural man separate from 
the spiritual ; they may however be distinguished by the 
spiritual man in the natural, but even this with difficulty, 
because the natural man is so thoroughly taught from 
infancy to counterfeit the spiritual man. Hence it is, 
that he not only affirms, but can also persuade himself to 
believe, that the uses which he performs to the church, 
to his country, to society and his fellow-citizens, and thus 
to his neighbor, are really performed for their sakes, 
although probably the ends which he had in view in the 
performance of them were himself and the world. He 
is in this state of blindness because he has not put away 
evils from himself by means of any combat with them ; 
for as long as they remain, he cannot from his spiritual 
principle see anything in his natural principle. He is 
like a man in a dream, who imagines himself awake, or 
like a bird of night, that regards the darkness as light. 
Such is the natural man, when the gate of heavenly 
light is closed ; this light being the spiritual principle 
which enlightens him. Since then it is of the greatest 
moment that he should know whether eminence and 
opulence, the love of glory and honor, the love of 
money and possessions, are ends or means — because if 
they are the former, they are curses, but if the latter, 
they are blessings — we shall first treat of ends and means. 



126 THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 

77. The end, the means or causes, and the effect, are 
also called the principal end, the intermediate ends, and 
the ultimate end. The latter are called ends, because 
the principal end, which is everything in them — both 
their esse and soul — produces them. The principal end 
is man's will's love, the intermediate ends are subordinate 
loves, and the ultimate end is the will's love existing as 
it were in its own effigy. Since the principal end is the 
will's love, it follows that the intermediate ends, because 
they are subordinate loves, are foreseen, provided, and 
produced, through the understanding; and that the 
ultimate end is the use foreseen, provided, and produced 
by the will's love, through the understanding ; for every- 
thing that love produces is use. It is necessary to pre- 
mise this, that the assertion just made may be under- 
stood, viz., that eminence and opulence may be blessings, 
and that they may also be curses. 

78. Now since the end, which is man's will's love, 
provides or procures for itself, through the understanding, 
the means through which it may exist, the ultimate end, 
to which it progresses through the means, is the existing 
end ; and since this end is use, it follows that the end 
loves the means, when they perform this use, and that, 
if they do not perform it, it does not love them, but 
rejects them, and through the understanding provides or 
procures for itself others. Hence the quality of the man 
is evident, whose principal end is the love of eminence, 
that is, the love of glory and honors; or the love of 
opulence, that is, the love of money and possessions; 
that he regards, for instance, all means as subservient to 
him for the attainment of the ultimate end, which is the 
existing love \i. e., the love in possession of its object], 
and this is use to himself. Take as an example the priest 



THE ATHAN ASIAN CREED. 127 

whose principal end is the love of money or possessions. 
His means are the ministry, the Word, his doctrine, his 
erudition, and his preaching founded upon them, and 
hence the instruction of the members of the church, their 
reformation and salvation. These means are estimated 
by him according to the end and for the sake of it, but 
still thejr are not loved — although in some cases they 
appear as if they were so — for opulence is the object of 
his love, because it is the first and the ultimate end, and 
this end is, as was observed, ever}" thing in the means. 
He alleges indeed that his will is that the members of the 
church should be instructed, reformed, and saved; but 
because he speaks of these objects, while he is at the 
same time influenced by opulence as an end, they form 
no part of his love ; they are only the means of acquiring 
reputation and gain on their account. The case of the 
priest is similar, whose principal end is the love of pre- 
eminence over others ; and if gain or honor is removed 
from the means, it will become apparent. The case is 
quite altered if the instruction, the reformation, and the 
salvation of souls, are the principal end, while opulence 
and eminence are the means ; for the priest is then an 
entirely different character. In this case he is spiritual, 
while in the former case he was natural. In the former 
instance opulence and eminence are blessings, but in the 
latter they are curses. It may be shown by much expe- 
rience derived from the spiritual world that the case is 
so. Many have been there seen and heard who affirmed 
that they had taught and written, and produced reforma- 
tion, but when the end or their will's love was made 
apparent, it was then plain that they did all for the sake 
of themselves and the world, and nothing for the sake 
of God and their neighbor ; that they even cursed the 



128 . THE ATHANASIAN" CREED. 

one and injured the other. Such are those who are 
meant in Matthew vii. 22, 23 ; and in Luke xiii. 
26, 27. 

79. Let us take another example, in the case of a king, 
a prince, a consul, a governor, or an official, whose prin- 
cipal end is the love of rule, and the means all things 
connected with their own swaj, and with the manage- 
ment and discharge of their office. The uses which per- 
sons of this kind perform, are not performed from any 
regard to the good of the kingdom, the commonwealth, 
the country, society, or their fellow-citizens, but for the 
sake of the delight of ruling, thus for the sake of them- 
selves. Real uses are not in their estimation uses ; their 
uses minister to their pride, . and they perform them for 
the sake of appearance and distinction, without any real 
love for them ; they extol them, and still treat them with 
contempt, just as a master does his slaves. I have seen 
such characters after death, and have regarded them with 
astonishment. They were devils amongst fiery devils ; for 
the love of rule, when it is the principal end, is the very 
fire of hell. I have seen others also whose principal end 
was not the love of rule, but the love of Grod and their 
neighbor, which is the love of uses ; and these were 
angels to whom was given dominion in the heavens. 
From these cases, again, it is evident that eminence may 
be either a blessing or a curse ; that when it is a bless- 
ing, it is from the Lord, but when it is a curse, it is from 
the devil. The nature and quality of the love of rule, 
when it is the principal end, may be seen by every wise 
man, from that kingdom which is meant in the Word by 
Babel, in that it has set its throne in the heavens above 
the Lord, arrogating to itself all His power. Hence it 
has abolished the divine means of worship, which are 



THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 129 

derived from the Lord through the Word, and in their 
stead has established such as are demoniacal, consisting 
in the adorations offered to men living and dead, to 
sepulchres also, to dead bodies, and to bones. This 
kingdom is described as Lucifer in Isaiah xiv. 4-24 ; 
those however who have exercised this dominion from 
the love of it, are designated bj this name, but not so 
the rest. 

80. Since the love of rule and the love of wealth uni- 
versally prevail in the Christian world, and these loves 
are at the present day so deeply inrooted, that mankind 
are not aware that they in any case lead astray, it is 
therefore of importance that their true qualities should 
be described. They lead astray every man who does not 
shun evils on the ground that they are sins ; for he who 
does not shun evils on this ground does not fear God, and 
therefore remains a natural man. And because the loves 
which belong to the natural man are the love of rule 
and the love of wealth, he therefore does not see, with 
any interior acknowledgment, the nature or quality of 
these loves in his own case. He does not see it unless 
he is reformed, and he is reformed only by means of 
combat against evils. It is believed that reformation is 
effected by means of faith ; but the faith of God does not 
precede such combat. When man is reformed in this 
way, light then enters by influx from the Lord through 
heaven, imparting to him both the inclination and the 
power to see the quality of these loves, whether they rule 
or serve in his case, thus whether they are regarded in 
the first place, and thus form as it were the head ; or 
whether they are regarded in the second place, and thus 
form as it were the feet. In the one case they lead astray 
and become curses: in the other, so far from leading 

6* 



130 THE ATHANASIAN CKEED. 

astray, they become blessings. I can solemnly affirm 
that all those with whom the love of rule occupies the 
first place are inwardly devils. This love is known from 
the gratification which it affords, for this gratification 
exceeds every other in the life of men. It is continually 
exhaled from hell, and the exhalation appears like the 
fire of a large furnace, kindling the hearts of men whom 
the Lord does not protect ; for the Lord protects all who 
are reformed. The Lord notwithstanding leads even the 
former, but it is in hell ; in the world however He leads 
them, though it is only by means of outward restraints, 
such as the fears produced by the penalties of the law, 
by the loss of reputation, of honor, of gain, and of the 
pleasures arising from them ; and also by means of 
remuneration. But still He cannot lead them out of 
hell, because the love of rule does not admit of internal 
restraints, such as the fears which relate to Grod, and 
the affections which belong to goodness and truth — these 
being the means by which the Lord leads all who follow, 
both to heaven and in heaven. 

81. We shall now make a few remarks on the subject 
that man is led of the Divine Providence to such things 
as do not lead astray, but are serviceable to him with 
reference to eternal life, for these things also refer to emi- 
nence and opulence. It may be shown that this is the 
case from what has been witnessed by me in the heavens. 
The heavens are divided into societies, in each of which 
there are the eminent and the opulent ; the eminent being 
in such glory, and the opulent in such abundance, that 
the glory and the abundance of this world are, with 
respect to them, almost as nothing. All the eminent 
however are possessed of wisdom, and all the opulent of 
knowledge, because their eminence originates in their 



THE ATH AN ASIAN CREED. 131 

wisdom, and their opulence in their knowledge. This 
eminence and opulence may be acquired in the world, 
both by those who are eminent and opulent in it, and 
also by those who are not so ; for they are acquired by 
all who love wisdom and knowledge. To love wisdom 
is to love real uses, and to love knowledge is to love 
acquaintance with goodness and truth for the sake of 
these uses. When uses are loved in preference to self 
and the world, and acquaintance with goodness and truth 
is loved for the sake of these uses, they then occupy the 
first place, eminence and opulence the second. This is 
the case with all who are eminent and opulent in the 
heavens ; from wisdom they regard the eminence, and 
from knowledge the opulence, in which they live, pre- 
cisely as a man regards his garments. 

82. The eminence and opulence of the angels of heaven 
shall be also described. There are in the societies of 
heaven superior and inferior governors, all arranged by 
the Lord, and placed in subordination to each other, 
according to their wisdom and intelligence. Their chief, 
who excels the rest in wisdom, dwells in the midst of 
them, in a palace so magnificent, that nothing in the 
world can be compared to it. Its architectural features 
are so astonishing that I can with truth assert that they 
cannot, even to a hundredth part, be described in natural 
language ; for it is Art herself there realizing her own 
skill. In the interior of the palace are apartments and 
chambers, all the furniture and ornaments of which are 
bright with gold and various precious stones, and in such 
forms as can be imitated by no artist in the world, either 
in painting or sculpture. "What again is marvellous is, 
that every individual thing, even to objects the most 
minute, is adapted for use. Every one who enters sees 



132 THE ATHANASIAN CKEED. 

the use for which they are designed, and perceives it too 
as if in each case it transpired through its own form. 
But no wise man remains long with his eye fixed upon 
the forms ; he rather in mind contemplates the uses, 
because these gratify his wisdom. Around the palace 
are porticos, paradisiacal gardens, and smaller palaces, 
each in itself a heavenly spot clad in forms of beauty 
peculiar to itself. Besides these and many other magnifi- 
cent objects, there are troops of attendant guards, every 
member of them clad in splendid garments. The subor- 
dinate governors enjoy similar magnificence and splen- 
dor, according to the degrees of their wisdom, and their 
wisdom again is according to the degrees of their love of 
uses. Such objects belong not only to those in authority, 
but also to the inhabitants, all of whom love uses, and 
perform them by means of various occupations. There 
are however but few things which it is possible to describe, 
while those which surpass description are innumerable. 
The latter, being in their origin spiritual, do not fall 
within the ideas of the natural man, and therefore not 
within any expressions of his language beyond these, 
that wisdom builds herself a habitation, making it suit- 
able for herself, and that then everything which lies most 
deeply concealed in any science, or in any art, hastens to 
her assistance and does her bidding. This is now written, 
in order that it may be known that all things in the 
heavens also refer to eminence and opulence, but that 
there eminence is the eminence of wisdom, and opulence 
the opulence of knowledge ; and that such are the objects 
to which man, by means of the Divine Providence, is led 
by the Lord. 

83. We shall now make some observations concerning 
the uses by means of which men and angels attain wis- 



THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 133 

dom. To love uses is the same thing as to love our 
neighbor, use in the spiritual sense being our neighbor. 
This may be seen from the fact, that every man loves 
another, not for his face and person, but for his will 
and understanding ; for he loves the man who is sound 
in both these faculties, rather than the man who is faulty 
either in the one or the other. And because man is loved 
or not loved for these faculties, it follows that the neigh- 
bor is that property from which every one is a man, 
that is, his spiritual nature. If you were to place ten 
men before you, that you might select one from amongst 
them as your colleague in any office or matter of business, 
should you not examine them carefully, and select the 
one who came nearest* to your wishes with regard to 
the use which you required ? This man then would 
be your neighbor in preference to the rest, and the ob- 
ject of your love. Or again, suppose you were to ap- 
proach ten maidens for the purpose of making choice 
of one of them as your wife, should you not carefully 
examine the qualifications of each, and betroth, if she 
consented, the one who became the object of your affec- 
tion ? She would then be your neighbor in preference 
to the rest. Were you to say in your own mind, that 
every man alike is your neighbor, and therefore to be 
loved without distinction ; in this case, a devil incarnate 
might be loved with as much affection as an angel in 
human form, or an abandoned woman equally with a 
chaste virgin. The reason that use is a man's neighbor 

* The Latin term for neighbor is proximics, signifying nearest; for 
whatever is nearest to man is properly his neighbor. Since therefore 
the principle of good or use is nearer to him than anything else, it is 
pre-eminently his neighbor. This idea of proximity is not so fully sug- 
gested by the English term. — Translator. 



134 THE ATHANASIAN CKEED. 

is, that every man is valued and loved not for his under- 
standing and will alone, but for the uses which he per- 
forms, or is able to perform, from them. Hence a man of 
use is a man according to his use ; and a man of no use 
is a man who is in reality not a man ; for of him it is said 
that he is useful for nothing. For, although such a man 
is tolerated in a civil community in the world, whilst he 
lives in accordance with his own principle, still, after 
death, when he becomes a spirit, he is cast out into a 
desert. Man is therefore of the same quality or character 
as his use. There are however manifold uses, which may 
be divided generally into heavenly and infernal. Heav- 
enly uses are those which promote more or less the wel- 
fare of the church, of our country, of society, and of our 
fellow-citizen, and which do this more nearly or more 
remotely for the sake of .such objects as ends. Infernal 
uses, on the contrary, are those which minister to self, and 
to such persons or objects as are connected with self; 
and when they do promote the welfare of the church, of 
country, of society, or of a fellow -citizen, it is not for the 
sake of them as ends, but for the sake of self as an end. 
It is nevertheless the duty of every one, from a principle 
of love, though not from self-love, to provide for himself 
and those dependent on him, the necessaries and requi- 
sites of life. When a man loves uses in the first place 
by doing them, and in the second place loves the world 
and himself, the former is then his spiritual principle, and 
the latter his natural ; and in this case the spiritual bears 
rule, and the natural serves. Hence it is evident what 
the spiritual principle is, and what the natural. This is 
what is implied by the Lord's words in Matthew, " Seek 
ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and 
all these things shall be added unto you " (vi. 33). The 



THE ATHANASIAN -CKEED. 135 

kingdom of God is the Lord and His church ; and Ilis 
righteousness is spiritual, moral, and civil good ; and 
every good which is done from the love of them is use. 
The reason that all things will then be added is, that, 
when use occupies the first place, the Lord, from whom 
all good is derived, occupies the first place, and bears 
rule, and bestows everything that conduces to eternal life 
and happiness. For, as has been observed, all things 
which relate to the Divine Providence of the Lord with 
man, regard what is eternal. The all things which will 
be added are here spoken of with reference to food and 
clothing ; because by food is meant everything internal 
which nourishes the soul, and by clothing, everything 
external which, like the body, clothes it. Everything 
internal refers to love and wisdom, and every thing exter- 
nal to opulence and eminence. From these observations 
it is now evident what is implied by loving uses for the 
sake of uses, and what the uses are from which man 
derives wisdom — that wisdom, from which, and according 
to which, every man possesses eminence and opulence in 
heaven. 

84. Since man was created to perform uses, and that 
is, to love his neighbor, therefore all men, however 
numerous they are, who enter heaven, have to perform 
uses. According to uses and the love of them, the inha- 
bitants of heaven enjoy all their delight and blessedness, 
and heavenly joy is derived from no other source. He 
who believes that this joy is conferred in a state of idle- 
ness is much deceived; for no idle person is tolerated 
even in hell, its inhabitants being in work-houses, and 
under a judge, who sets his prisoners the different kinds 
of work which they are every day to perform. To those 
who do not perform their work, neither food nor clothing 



136 THE ATHANASIAN CKEED. 

is given, but they stand hungry and naked, and in this way 
they are driven to it. The difference is, that in hell uses 
are performed from fear, but in heaven from love, and it is 
not fear but love that imparts joy. The angels are how- 
ever permitted to vary their occupations in different ways, 
in company with others, and this produces recreations 
which are also uses. I have been permitted to see 
several things in heaven, as well as in the world, and in 
the human body, and at the same time to ponder over 
their uses, when it has been revealed to me, that every- 
thing in them, great as well as small, was created from 
use, in use, and for use ; and that the part in which the 
ultimate conducing to use ceases, is separated as noxious, 
and as it were condemned and cast out. 

85. Some observations shall now be made respecting 
the life of animals, and afterwards respecting the soul of 
vegetables. The whole world and all the collective and 
several objects which it contains, derived their existence, 
and still subsist from the Lord, the Creator of the uni- 
verse. There are two Suns, the sun of the spiritual 
world, and the sun of the natural ; the former is the 
divine love of the Lord ; the latter is pure fire. From 
the sun which is divine love the whole work of creation 
began, and through the sun which is fire it was brought 
to completion. Everything again which proceeds from 
the former of these suns is called spiritual, but everything 
which proceeds from the latter, natural. That which is 
spiritual from its origin has life in itself, but that which 
is natural from its origin has no life in itself; and because 
from these two sources of the universe all things which 
are contained in both worlds derived their existence, and 
still subsist, it follows that the spiritual and the natural 
exist in every created object in this world ; the spiritual 



THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 137 

being as the soul, and the natural as the body ; or 
the spiritual as the internal, and the body as the ex- 
ternal ; or the spiritual as the cause, and the natural as 
the effect. Every wise man is aware that these two 
things cannot in any case whatever be separated ; for if 
you separate the cause from the effect, the effect perishes ; 
or if you separate the internal from the external, the 
latter perishes, just as if you were to separate the soul 
from the body. It has not been hitherto known that 
there is this conjunction in all the several objects of 
nature, even in the most minute of them ; and the reason 
that it is not known arises from the ignorance which 
prevails regarding the spiritual world, the sun, the light 
and heat there, and also from the insanity of sensual 
men, in ascribing all things to nature, and seldom any- 
thing but creation in general to God, although there 
neither is nor can be, in nature, anything whatever in 
which there is not a spiritual principle. In what follows 
will be shown the existence of this principle, and the 
mode of its existence, in all the collective and several 
objects which are contained in the three kingdoms of 
nature. 

86. From the subjects and objects of the three king- 
doms of nature, which embrace all things in the world, 
the following point may be illustrated and confirmed : — ■ 
that the spiritual principle is united with the natural, in 
all the collective and several parts of the world, in the 
same way as the soul is united with the body, in all its 
collective and several parts ; or as the efficient cause is 
with the effect, in all its collective and several parts ; or 
as the internal producing principle is with its own pro- 
duce, in all its collective and several parts. That there 
is such a union of spiritual and natural things in all the 



138 THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 

collective and several subjects and objects of the animal 
kingdom, is evident from the wonderful facts which have 
been observed by learned men and societies, and submit- 
ted to the examination of those who love to investigate 
causes. It is a generally known fact that animals of 
every kind, great and small, both those which walk or 
creep upon the earth, and those which fly in the air or 
swim in the waters, know from an innate and implanted 
principle called instinct or nature, how their species must 
be propagated, and their young after birth be brought 
up and fed, as well as the kinds of food suitable for them. 
They know again, in each case, their proper food from 
its mere appearance, smell, or taste, and where it must be 
sought for and collected. They know further their own 
dwellings and places of resort, where also their compa- 
nions and mates are to be found from hearing the sound 
of their voice, and according to any variation in its tone 
they are acquainted with their wants. The knowledge 
of such things regarded in itself is spiritual, as well as 
the affection from which it proceeds ; the clothing of 
them both being derived from nature, and their produc- 
tion also through her means. An animal is moreover 
precisely like man as to the organs, the members, and 
the viscera of the body : like man it has eyes, and thence 
sight; ears, and thence the sense of hearing; nostrils, 
and thence the sense of smell ; a mouth and tongue, and 
thence the sense of taste ; the cuticular sense also with 
all its variety throughout every part of the body. With 
regard again to the interiors of its body, it has similar 
viscera ; two brains, a heart and lungs, a stomach, liver, 
pancreas, spleen, mesentery and intestines, with all the 
other organs necessary for producing chyle and blood, 
and re-purifying the system, besides the organs of sepa- 



THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 139 

ration and generation. It resembles man further with 
regard to its nerves, blood-vessels, skins, cartilages, and 
bones ; and such is the resemblance, that man with 
regard to these points is an animal. That all these 
things in man have a correspondence with the societies 
of heaven, has been shown in many particulars in the 
Arcana Celestia ; consequently they are also similar in 
the case of animals. From this correspondence it is 
evident that the spiritual acts upon the natural, and by 
means of it produces its own effects, as the principal 
cause acting by means of its instrumental cause. These 
are however merely general signs bearing witness to the 
conjunction which exists in this kingdom. 

87 v The particular signs bearing similar testimony are 
still more numerous and striking, and with some species 
of animals they are such that the sensual man, whose 
thoughts originate in matter alone, places the powers 
which belong to the inferior animals upon a footing of 
equality with those which belong to man. From his 
infatuated intelligence he concludes, that their states of 
life are similar even after death, alleging that if he lives, 
they live ; or if they die, he dies also. The signs which 
bear this testimony, and still infatuate the sensual man 
are, that in the case of some animals there appear similar 
prudence and cunning, similar connubial love, similar 
friendship and as it were charity, similar probity and 
benevolence; in a word, a moral nature similar to that 
which exists in man. Dogs, for example, from a genius 
innate in them, as if from a sort of mental power, know 
how to keep faithful watch ; from a hint of their master's 
affection they are as it were acquainted with his will ; 
from perceiving the scent of his footsteps or his clothes, 
they can trace him out ; they know the bearings of the 



1.40 THE ATHANASIAK CREED. 

country in which they live, and speedily find their way 
home, even though it lies through pathless tracts, or in 
the midst of dense forests. From these and other traits 
of a similar kind the sensual man concludes, that the dog 
is endowed with knowledge, intelligence, and wisdom. 
Nor is this to be wondered at, when he ascribes these 
powers in the case of the dog as well as in his own case 
to nature. It is otherwise with the spiritual man ; he 
sees clearly that there is some spiritual principle which 
leads in all these instances, and that it is in union with 
the natural. Particular signs again are observable in 
birds : they know how to build their nests, to lay in them 
their eggs, to sit upon them, to hatch their young, and 
afterwards, from that affection which exists between 
parents and offspring, to provide them with warmth 
under their wings, and food from their bills, until they 
are fledged and provided with wings, when they too, 
without any instruction, are found to be possessed of all 
their parents' knowledge, deriving it from that spiritual 
principle which forms their soul — the soul from which 
they provide for themselves. Particular signs again are 
the contents of the egg, in which lie concealed the rudi- 
ments of the new bird, encompassed with every element 
ministering to the formation of the fetus, from its begin- 
nings in the head to the full contexture of all the parts 
of the body. Can such a provision be made by nature ? 
For this process involves not only being produced, but 
also being created ; and nature does not create. What 
has nature to do with life, but that life may be clothed 
from it and come forth, presenting itself to view in form 
as an animated being? Amongst the particular signs 
bearing the same testimony are caterpillars. When they 
are about to undergo a change of form, they enclose 



THE ATHANASIAN CJREED. 141 

themselves as it were in a womb, that they may have a 
second birth. In this state they are changed into nymphs 
and chrysalises, and after the necessary labor and time 
they emerge into beautiful butterflies, and soar into the 
air as their heaven, where male and female sport together, 
as married partners with each other. They now feed 
upon odoriferous flowers, and lay their eggs, thus making 
provision that their species may live after them. The 
spiritual man sees that this rivals his own re-birth, and 
is a representative type of his own resurrection, and thus 
is spiritual. Signs still more striking are observable 
amongst bees. They have a form of government analo- 
gous to those amongst men. They construct themselves 
cells of wax, according to the rules of art, in a regular 
series, and provided with convenient passages through 
which to come and go ; they then fill them with honey 
collected from the flowers. They appoint over them- 
selves a queen, from whom, as from a common parent, 
their offspring is to proceed. She dwells above her peo- 
ple in the midst of her attendant bees, which, when she is 
about to become a mother, follow her with a promiscuous 
crowd in their train, as she goes from cell to cell, laying 
in each her little egg. She does this without intermis- 
sion until the matrix is exhausted, when she returns 
home, and repeats again and again the same process. 
Her attendants, which are called drones, performing no' 
other use than waiting, as so many domestics upon one 
mistress, and possibly inspiring her with something of 
amatory desire, but assisting in no labor, are then con- 
sidered useless, and therefore that they may not invade 
and consume the substance and labors of others, they are 
dragged out and stripped of their wings. In this way 
the bees clear their communities of their indolent mem- 



142 THE ATHAJSTASIAN CREED. 

bers. Afterwards again, the new offspring, when they 
have attained their growth, are commanded by the gene- 
ral voice, which is heard as a loud humming, to take their 
departure and to seek shelter and food for themselves. 
They therefore depart, and, collecting into a swarm, 
establish a similar order of things in a hive of their own. 
These and many other particulars, which have been 
observed and published by persons devoted to investi- 
gations of this kind, are not unlike the forms of gov- 
ernment, which have been established and arranged in 
kingdoms and republics by the intelligence and wisdom 
of man, according to the laws of justice and judgment. 
Like men again, the bees, as if they were aware of the 
approach of winter, lay up a store of provisions for it, 
that they may not at that season die of want. Who can 
deny that such indications of intelligence as these are 
spiritual in their origin ? Or can similar indications of 
it be possibly derived from any other origin ? They are 
all of them to me arguments and proofs of a spiritual 
influx into natural objects, and I am thoroughly asto- 
nished how facts of this kind can be regarded as argu- 
ments and proofs of the operation of nature alone, as 
they are by some men who are infatuated by their own 
self-derived intelligence. 

88. No one can understand the nature and quality of 
the life which the beasts of the earth, the birds of heaven, 
and the fishes of the sea enjoy, unless he is also ac- 
quainted with the nature and quality of their soul. It is 
a fact well known that every animal has a soul, for all. 
animals live, and life is the soul, for this reason they are 
also called in the Word living souls. It cannot be bet- 
ter known from any other source than the spiritual 
world, that the soul in its ultimate form, which is cor- 



THE ATHANASIAN" CREED. 143 

poreal, such as it appears before the natural sight, is an 
animal. For in the spiritual world, just as in the natural, 
there are seen beasts, and birds, and fishes of every kind, 
and in form so similar, that they cannot be distinguished 
from those in the natural world. But the difference is, 
that in the spiritual world they have an apparent exist- 
ence from the affections of the angels and spirits, so that 
they are appearances of affections. For this reason they 
also disappear as soon as the angel or spirit departs, or 
his affection ceases. Hence it is evident, that their soul 
consists of nothing else ; and consequently that there are 
as many genera and species of animals in existence, as 
there are genera and species of affections. It will be 
seen in what follows that the affections, which are repre- 
sented by animals in the spiritual world, are not interior 
spiritual affections, but exterior, which are called natu- 
ral ; and further, that there is not a hair or a thread of 
wool on any beast, not the filament of a quill or feather 
upon any bird, not the apex of a scale or fin upon any 
fish, that is not formed from the life of their soul, and 
thus that is not derived from the spiritual clothed with 
the natural. But some remarks shall first be made with 
respect to the animals which appear in heaven, in hell, 
and in the world of spirits, which is intermediate in rela- 
tion to them. 

89. Because the whole heaven, the whole hell, and the 
whole world of spirits are each divided into societies, and 
the societies are arranged according to the genera and 
species of affections, as was just observed, therefore one 
genus of animals with its species appears in one society, 
and another in another, and thus all the genera with, their 
species included. In the societies of heaven appear the 
gentle and clean animals ; in the societies of hell, the 



144 THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 

savage and unclean beasts ; and in the world of spirits 
beasts of an intermediate kind. They have been fre- 
quently seen by me, and from their appearance I have 
been enabled to learn the quality of the angels or spirits 
that were there ; for all these are known from the appear- 
ances which are near them and around them, their 
affections also from various objects, as well as from the 
animals. There have been seen by me in the heavens 
lambs, sheep, and goats so similar to those in the world 
that there is no difference whatever between them ; 
turtle-doves also and pigeons, birds of paradise, and 
many others beautiful in form and color ; fishes too in 
the waters, but these were in the lowest parts of heaven. 
In the hells, on the other hand, there are seen dogs, 
foxes, wolves, tigers, swine, and mice, and many other 
kinds of savage and unclean beasts, besides poisonous 
serpents of many species, crows also, owls and birds of 
night. But in the world of spirits are seen camels, ele- 
phants, horses, asses, oxen, stags, lions, leopards, and 
bears ; eagles also and kites, magpies, peacocks, and 
quails. There are also seen compound animals, such as 
were seen by the prophets and are described in the 
Word, as in the Eev. xiii. 2, and elsewhere. Since there 
is such a resemblance between the animals that appear in 
that world and those in this, that they cannot be at all 
distinguished, and since they derive their existence from 
the affections of the angels of heaven, or from the lusts 
of the spirits of hell, it follows that natural affections and 
lusts are their souls, and that these being clothed with a 
body are animals in a corresponding form. But what 
affection or lust forms the soul of this or that animal ; be 
it a beast or a wild beast of the earth, a bird of the day 
or of the night, a fish of limpid water or foul, it does not 



THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 145 

belong to this place to explain. Animals are frequently 
mentioned in the Word, and they have there a significa- 
tion according to their souls. The signification of lambs, 
sheep, she-goats, rams, kids, he-goats, steers, oxen, camels, 
horses, asses, stags, and also of some birds, may be seen 
explained in the Arcana Celestia. 

90. Having premised these observations, we shall now 
explain what the soul of beasts is. The soul of beasts 
regarded in itself is spiritual ; for affection, of whatever 
kind it is, whether good or evil, is spiritual ; for it is a 
derivation from some love, and derives its origin from 
the light and heat which proceed from the Lord as a 
sun, and whatever proceeds from that source is spiritual. 
It is evident from what was before said on the subject 
of evil loves and the insane lusts originating in them, 
belonging to infernal genii and spirits, that evil affections 
which are called concupiscences are also from that 
source. Beasts and wild beasts, the souls of which are 
similar evil affections, such as mice, poisonous serpents, 
crocodiles, basilisks, vipers, and the like, with the various 
noxious insects, were not created from the beginning, 
but originated with hell in ponds, marshes, rank and 
fetid waters, and where there are cadaverous and filthy 
effluvia, with which the malignant loves of the infernal 
societies communicate. I have been permitted to know 
by experience, that a communication between such 
objects exists. There is again inherent in all that is 
spiritual a plastic force, where there are homogeneous 
exhalations in nature present, and there is also a propa- 
gative force, for it forms not only the organs of sense 
and motion, but also those of prolification, by means of 
wombs or eggs. But at the beginning, useful and clean 
beasts alone were created, the souls of which are good 

7 



146 THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 

affections. It must, however, be borne in mind that the 
souls of beasts are not spiritual in the degree in which 
the souls of men are so, but they are spiritual in an 
inferior degree ; for degrees of spiritual things exist. 
The affections also of the inferior degree, although re- 
garded according to their origin they are spiritual, must 
still be spoken of as natural, and that because they 
resemble the affections of the natural man. There are 
in man three degrees of the natural affections, and in 
like manner there are three degrees of the lower animals. 
In the lowest degree are the insects of various kinds ; in 
the higher degree are the fowls of heaven ; and in the 
degree still higher are the beasts of the earth, which were 
created from the beginning. 

91. The difference between men and beasts is like that 
between waking and dreaming, or between light and 
shade. Man is spiritual, and at the same time natural ; 
a beast, on the other hand, is not spiritual, but natural. 
Man possesses a will and an understanding, his will 
being the receptacle of the heat of heaven, which is love ; 
and his understanding being the receptacle of the light 
of heaven, which is wisdom. A beast, on the other 
hand, has neither will nor understanding ; but instead 
of the former it has affection, and instead of the latter, 
knowledge. The will and the understanding in man 
can act as one, and they can also act not as one ; for 
man can from his understanding think that which has 
nothing to do with his will, and that even to which his 
will is opposed ; he can, on the other hand, will that 
which he does not think. With a beast, again, affection 
and knowledge make one, and cannot be separated ; for 
its knowledge is limited to its affection, and its affection 
is according to its knowledge. And since the two facul- 



THE ATHAXASIAN CREED. I±7 

ties, which are called knowledge and affection, cannot in 
the case of a beast be separated, therefore it is that a 
beast has been unable to destroy the order of its life, and 
is born into all the knowledge which belongs to its 
affection. The case is otherwise with man. His two 
faculties of life, which are called understanding and will, 
can, as we have observed, be separated ; therefore it is 
that he had power to destroy the order of his life, by 
thinking in opposition to his will, and by willing in 
opposition to his understanding, and that by this means 
he also destroyed it. Hence it is that he is born into 
mere ignorance — that out of it he may be introduced 
into order through the various grades of knowledge, by 
means of the understanding. The order into which he 
was created is to love God above all things, and his 
neighbor as himself, and the state into which he came, 
after he had destroyed this order, is that of loving him- 
self above all things, and the world as himself. And 
since he has a spiritual mind, which, being above his 
natural mind, has the power of contemplating such sub- 
jects as belong to heaven, to the church, and also to civil 
society so far as regards its morals and laws ; and since 
these subjects refer on the one hand to the goods and 
truths which are called spiritual, moral, and civil — 
besides the natural goods and truths belonging to the 
various grades of knowledge — and on the other hand, to 
their opposites, which are falsities and evils, therefore it 
is that man has the power not only of thinking analy- 
tically, and thence drawing his conclusions, but also of 
receiving influx through heaven from the Lord, and of 
becoming intelligent and wise. Xo beast is capable of 
this ; because its knowledge, not being derived from any 
understanding, is the knowledge which originates in 



148 THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 

affection — that affection which constitutes its soul. This 
knowledge originating in affection exists in everything 
spiritual, because the spiritual principle, proceeding from 
the Lord as a sun, is light united to heat, or wisdom 
united to love ; the knowledge also originates in wisdom, 
and the affection in love, in the degree which is called 
natural. And since man has both a spiritual mind and 
a natural mind, the former being above the latter, and 
of such a nature that it has the capacity of contemplat- 
ing and loving truths and goods in every degree, either 
in conjunction with the natural mind, or separately from 
it, it follows that his interiors, which belong to both 
minds, are capable of being elevated by the Lord to a 
conjunction with Himself; hence it is that every man 
lives for ever. This is not the case with the beast ; it 
does not rejoice in the possession of any spiritual mind, 
though it has a natural one ; therefore it is that its inte- 
riors, which originate merely in knowledge and affection, 
cannot be elevated by the Lord or conjoined with Him ; 
and therefore it does not live after death. A beast is 
indeed led by a kind of spiritual influx falling into its 
soul, but its spiritual principle being incapable of eleva- 
tion can only be determined downwards. This prin- 
ciple, therefore, is capable of regarding only such things 
as belong to its affection, referring merely to nourish- 
ment, habitation, and propagation — and of becoming 
acquainted with them by means of sight, smell, and 
taste. Man again, by virtue of his spiritual mind, has 
the capacity of thinking rationally ; he therefore has the 
faculty of speech ; for speech belongs to thought derived 
from understanding, which is capable of seeing truths in 
a spiritual light. A beast, on the other hand, which has 
no thoughts derived from understanding, but merely 



THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 149 

knowledge derived from affection, can only utter sounds, 
varying this expression of its affection according to its 
appetites. 

92. We shall now make some observations respecting 
the vegetable kingdom, and the soul connected with it, 
which is called the vegetative soul ; since it is not known 
in the world that this soul also is spiritual. By the 
vegetative soul is meant the conatus or effort to produce 
a vegetable from seed, through all the progressive stages, 
to new seeds, and by this means to multiply itself to 
infinity, and propagate itself for ever. For there is in 
every vegetable an idea as it were of the Infinite and 
Eternal ; since one seed might be multiplied for a num- 
ber of years so as to fill the whole earth, and propagated 
also from seed to seeds in endless succession. This 
power, associated as it is with the wonderful process of 
growing from a root into a shoot, then into a stalk, next 
into branches, leaves, flowers, and fruits, until the plant 
arrives at new seeds, is not a natural, but a spiritual 
power. In a similar manner again is this spiritual 
power evinced by the resemblance which vegetables 
bear in many respects to the objects belonging to the 
animal kingdom. That they exist, for instance, from 
seed ; that there is in them as it were a prolific prin- 
ciple ; that they produce a plant as their infant, with 
the stalk as its body, the branches as its arms, the 
summit as its head, the barks as its skins, and the leaves 
as its lungs ; that they reach a state of adolescence in 
the course of years ; that they then bloom like maidens 
before their nuptials, and afterwards, causing as it were 
their wombs or eggs to expand, they bring forth fruits 
as their offspring; that there are in these again new 
seeds, from which, as in the animal kingdom, new pro- 



150 THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 

pagations of the same species or family are produced. 
These and many other particulars observed by botanists, 
who have traced a parallel between these two kingdoms, 
indicate that the conatus or effort to produce such results 
does not originate in the natural world, but in the spiri- 
tual. From the sequel it will be seen, that the living 
force, as the principal cause, is spiritual ; while the dead 
force, as the instrumental cause, is natural. 

93. The mode in which the spiritual principle enters 
by influx into vegetables and acts upon them, producing 
the conatus, effort, or act, of which we have been speak- 
ing, cannot be comprehended by any understanding 
unless the following propositions are first explained : — 

I. That nothing in nature exists or subsists but from 
a spiritual origin, and by means of it. 

II. That nature in itself is dead, having been created 
in order that that which is spiritual may be clothed from 
it with forms to serve for use, and thus may terminate. 

in. That there are two general forms, the spiritual 
and the natural ; the spiritual, such as that which belongs 
to animals ; and the natural, such as that which belongs 
to vegetables. 

IV. That there are three forces inherent in everything 
spiritual ; the active, the creative, and the formative. 

V. That vegetables and animals also — both those which 
appear in heaven, and those which appear in the world 
— exist from a spiritual origin, by means of these 
forces. 

VI. That both — animals and vegetables — have the 
same origin, and thence the same soul ; the only dif- 
ference being in the forms into which the influx is 
received. 

Vii. That this origin is from use. 



THE ATH AN ASIAN CREED. 151 

94. I. That nothing in nature exists or subsists, but from 
a spiritual origin, and by means of it. 

The reason of this is that nothing can exist except 
from something else, and this lastly from Him, who is 
and who exists in Himself, and He is God ; therefore also 
God is called esse and existere — Jah from esse, and 
Jehovah from esse and existere, in Himself. The reason 
that nothing in nature exists but from a spiritual origin 
is, that there cannot be anything in existence unless it 
has a soul, all that which is essence being called soul ; 
for that which has not in itself an essence, does not exist 
— it is a nonentity ; because there is no esse from which 
it can derive existence. Such is the case with nature; 
its essence, from which it exists, being the spiritual origin 
or principle, because this possesses in itself the divine 
esse, and also the divine force — active, creative, and 
formative — as will be evident from what follows. This 
essence may also be called soul, because all that is spiri- 
tual lives ; and when that which is alive acts upon that 
which is not so, upon that, for instance, which is natural, 
it causes it either to live as if from itself, or to derive 
from it something of the appearance of life ; the former 
is the case with animals, the latter with vegetables. The 
reason that nothing in nature exists but from a spiritual 
origin or principle is, that no effect is produced without 
a cause; whatever exists in the form of an effect pro- 
ceeds from a cause, that which does not proceed from a 
cause being separated. Such is the case with nature ; all 
the several and most minute objects belonging to it are 
effects produced from a cause, which is prior, interior, 
and superior to it, and proceeding immediately from 
God. For since there exists a spiritual world, which is 
prior, interior, and superior, to the natural world, there- 



152 THE ATHAN ASIAN CKEED. 

fore all that belongs to the former is cause, and all that 
belongs to the latter is effect. The existence indeed 
of one thing from another is also progressive in the 
natural world, but this is by means of causes proceeding 
from the spiritual world ; for where the cause of an effect 
is, there also is to be found the cause of an efficient effect. 
For every effect becomes an efficient cause in successive 
order, until it reaches the ultimate, where the effective 
force stops. But this is continually accomplished from 
the spiritual principle in which alone this force exists ; 
this therefore is the reason that nothing in nature exists 
but from a spiritual origin or principle, and by means of 
it. There are in nature two mediate causes, through 
which every effect, whether production or formation, is 
derived. These mediate causes are light and heat ; the 
former modifying substances, the latter stimulating them 
to action, the power in each case proceeding from the 
presence of the sun in them. The presence of the sun 
which is apparent as light, produces an activity of all 
the forces or substances of every individual thing, ac- 
cording to the form in which it exists from creation — 
this is modification. The presence of the sun again, 
which is perceptible as heat, expands all individual 
things, producing an active and efficient force, according 
to their form, by calling forth into action the conatus or 
effort of which they are possessed from creation. This 
conatus, which by means of heat becomes a force acting 
even in the smallest forms of nature, is from a spiritual 
origin or principle acting within them and upon them. 

95. II. That nature in itself is dead, having been created 
in order that that which is spiritual may be clothed from it 
with forms to serve for use, and thus may terminate. 

Nature and life are two distinct things ; nature deriv- 



THE ATHA.N ASIAN CKEED. °° 

ing its beginning from the sun of the world, and ? 
deriving its beginning from the sun of heaven. The sun 
of the world is pure fire, and the sun of heaven pure 
love; that which proceeds from the former is called 
nature, but that which proceeds from the latter is called 
life. That which proceeds from pure fire is dead, but 
that which proceeds from pure love is alive ; hence it is 
evident that nature in itself is dead. That nature serves 
as a covering for that which is spiritual, is evident from 
the souls of beasts, which are spiritual affections, being 
clothed from materials in the world, it being well known 
that their bodies are material ; so also the bodies of men. 
The reason that the spiritual can be clothed from the 
material is, that all the objects which exist in nature, 
whether, they belong to atmosphere, to water, or to earth, 
are, as to every individual of them, effects produced 
from the spiritual as a cause. The effects again act as 
one with the cause, and are in complete agreement with 
it, according to the axiom, that nothing exists in the 
effect that is not in the cause. But the difference is, that 
the cause is a living force, because it is spiritual, while 
the effect derived from it is a dead force, because it is 
natural. From this it is, that there are in the natural 
world such objects as are in complete agreement with 
those which exist in the spiritual world, and that the 
former can be suitably conjoined with the latter. Hence 
then it is, that it is said that nature was created that the 
spiritual may be clothed from it with forms to serve for 
use. That nature was created that the spiritual may be 
terminated in it, follows from what has been already 
said, that the objects in the spiritual world are causes, 
while those in the natural world are effects, and effects 
are limits. Where there is a first principle there will in 

7* 



154: THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 

all eases be an ultimate ; and since all that is interme- 
diate from the first principle co-exists in the ultimate, the 
work of creation is perfected in ultimates. It was for the 
sake of this end that the sun of the world was created, 
and by its means nature, and lastly the terraqueous 
globe, that in it there might be ultimate material sub- 
stances, in which all that is spiritual might terminate, 
and creation rest. Other ends were, that the work of 
creation might there be fixed and lasting — a result which 
is produced by the successive generations of men and 
animals, and the continual germinations of vegetables; 
and that all things should from them return to their First 
Source — a result which is produced by means of man. 
That intermediates co-exist in ultimates is evident from 
the axiom, that there is nothing in the effect that is not 
in the cause, this being the case — from the continuity of 
causes and effects — from the First Source to the ulti- 
mate. 

96. III. That there are two general forms, the spiritual 
and the natural ; the spiritual, such as that which belongs to 
animals; and the natural, such as that vjhich belongs to 
vegetables. 

It is in accordance with this proposition that all things 
belonging to nature, except the sun, the moon, and the 
atmospheres, form the three kingdoms, the animal, the 
vegetable, and the mineral ; and that the mineral king- 
dom is merely the store-house in which are contained, 
and from which are taken, the substances which com- 
pose the forms of the animal and vegetable kingdoms. 
The forms of the animal kingdom, which are in one word 
called animals, are all in accordance with the flux of 
spiritual substances and forces. And this flux, from the 
conatus or effort which is inherent in the forms, has a 



THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 155 

tendency to the human form, and all its collective and 
several parts, from the head to the foot ; it thus has a 
tendency to produce the organs of sense and motion, and 
also those of nutrition and propagation. Hence it is 
that the whole heaven is in the human form, that all the 
angels and spirits there, and all the men on earth are so 
also ; and further, that all beasts, birds, and fishes, have 
a tendency to it, for they all have similar organs. This 
animal form derives the conatus or effort to produce such 
results from the First Being, from whom all things exist, 
and who is God in that He is Man. This conatus or 
effort and the consequent tendency of all the spiritual 
forces cannot exist from any other source ; for it exists 
in the greatest things and in the least, in first principles 
and in last, in the spiritual world and thence in the 
natural ; but with a difference of perfection according to 
degrees. The other form, again, which is the natural 
form, and to which all vegetables belong, derives its 
origin from the conatus, and the flux originating in it, 
of the natural forces, which consist of atmospheres, and 
are called ethers. For in these the conatus is according 
to the tendency in the spiritual forces to the human form, 
and according to their continual operation upon the 
natural forces, and through these upon the material sub- 
stances of the earth, of which the vegetables are com- 
posed. That such is the origin of the natural form is 
plain from what was said above, that there is in vegeta- 
bles an evident resemblance to the animal form. That 
all things in nature join in the effort to realize this form, 
and that the ethers have the tendency to produce it im- 
pressed upon them, and thus engrafted in them, from a 
spiritual source, is evident from many circumstances ; for 
instance, from the universal vegetation found on the sur- 



156 THE ATH AN ASIAN CREED. 

face of the whole earth ; from the vegetation again of 
minerals into forms of this kind in mines, wherever an 
aperture is found, as well as from the vegetation of chalk- 
like substances into corals at the bottom of seas, and 
even from the forms of the snow-flakes, which seem to 
emulate those of vegetable life. 

97. IV. That there are three forces inherent in everything 
spiritual; the active, the creative, and the formative. 

1. The existence of the active force is plain, because 
that which is spiritual proceeds from the first source of 
all forces, which is the sun of heaven, and this is the 
divine love of the Lord ; and since love is the essen- 
tial agent, the living force, which is life, proceeds from 
it. 

2. The creative force is that which produces causes and 
effects from the beginning to the end, extending from 
the First Principle, through intermediates, to the last. 
The First Principle is the essential sun of heaven, which 
is the Lord ; intermediates are things spiritual, in the 
next place things natural, and then things terrestrial, 
from which lastly the productions are derived. And 
since this force in the creation of the universe extended 
from the First Principle to the last, therefore it still ex- 
tends in the same way, in order that the productions may 
be continual ; for otherwise they would cease. For that 
which is first continually regards as an end that which 
is last ; and unless the First Principle provided for the 
last continually from itself, through intermediates, accord- 
ing to the order of creation, all things would perish. 
Wherefore the productions, which are chiefly animals and 
vegetables, are the continuations of creation. It matters 
not that these continuations are effected by means of 
seeds ; it is still the same creative force which produces. 



THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 157 

It is stated on the experience of some persons that there 
are even certain seeds of new species still coming forth 
into existence. 

3. The formative force is the ultimate force from ulti- 
mates ; for it is the force which produces animals and 
vegetables from the ultimate substances of nature col- 
lected in the earth. The forces inherent in nature from 
its origin, which is the sun of the world, are not living 
but dead forces. They are not unlike the forces of heat 
in man and animal, which keep the body in such a state, 
that the will by means of its affection, and the under- 
standing by means of its thought, which are spiritual, 
may enter by influx, and perform in it their own opera- 
tions. They are again not unlike the forces of light in 
the eye,, which merely cause the mind, which is spiritual, 
to see by means of its own organ ; since it is not the 
light of the world that sees, but the mind by means of 
the light of heaven. It is the same with vegetables. 
The man is rrfuch deceived who believes that the heat 
and light of the sun in the world operate further than to 
open and dispose the properties of nature to receive the 
influx from the spiritual world. 

98. V. That vegetables and animals also — both those 
ivhich appear in heaven, and those which appear in the 
world — exist from a spiritual origin, by means of these 
forces. 

The reason that these also exist in heaven is, that these 
forces are inherent in that which is spiritual, in the 
greatest things and in the least, in first principles and in 
ultimates ; thus in that which is spiritual both in heaven 
and in the world, its first beginnings being in the former, 
its ultimate developments in the latter. For there are 
degrees of spiritual things, and every degree is distinct 



158 THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 

from another, a prior or higher degree being more per- 
fect than that which is posterior or lower. This may be 
shown from the light and heat in the heavens, and from 
the wisdom of the angels derived from them. The light 
in the highest or third heaven, from being of a flaming 
quality, is so bright that it surpasses a thousand times 
the mid-day light of the world. In the middle or second 
heaven there is a light less clear, but still it surpasses a 
hundred times the mid-day light of the world. In the 
ultimate or first heaven there is a light similar to the 
mid-day light of the world. There are also degrees of 
heat, which in heaven is love, and according to them the 
angels possess their wisdom, intelligence, and knowledge. 
All that is spiritual belongs to the light and heat which 
proceed from the Lord as a sun, and from them wisdom 
and intelligence are derived. There are also as many 
degrees of spiritual things existing beneath the heavens, 
or iu nature, which are lower degrees. This may be 
apparent from the natural mind of man, from his ration- 
ality also, and his sensuality. Rational men are in the 
first degree, sensual men in the last, and some are in the 
intermediate; all the thought, moreover, and affection 
of the natural mind are spiritual. These three forces, 
the active, the creative, and the formative, are inherent 
in that which is spiritual, in every degree of it, but with 
a difference of perfection. But since there is nothing but 
has its own ultimate, in which it terminates and stops, so 
also has the spiritual ; its ultimate being on the earth, in 
its lands and in its waters. From this ultimate again 
the spiritual produces vegetables of every kind — from 
the tree to the blade of grass — and in these it remains, 
manifesting itself merely in that kind of resemblance to 
living beings, of which we have treated above. 



THE ATH AN ASIAN CREED. 159 

99. We shall now make a few observations respecting 
the vegetables in heaven ; the animals there having been 
treated of above. There are in the heavens, as on the 
earth, vegetables of every kind and species. There are 
there even those which are not found on the earth ; for 
there are compounds of genera and species, with infinite 
variation also. This property they derive from their 
origin, of which we shall speak below. The genera and 
species of vegetables again differ in the heavens, like the 
genera and species of the animals there, of which we have 
treated above. There appear there, according to the 
degrees of light and heat, paradisiacal gardens, groves, 
fields, and plains, and in them shrubberies, lawns, and 
beds of flowers. In the inmost or third heaven especially, 
there are groves of trees, the fruits of which distil with 
oils ; there are beds of flowers, from which fragrant 
odors are diffused around, and in the seeds of which 
there are delicious flavors arising from their fragrance, 
and the oil which they contain ; grass-plots too which 
abound with similar perfumes. In the middle or second 
heaven there are also groves of trees, the fruits of which 
distil with wines ; and beds of flowers from whicli 
exhale delightful odors, and the seeds of which possess 
a variety of delicate flavors; grass-plots likewise of a 
similar kind. In the lowest or first heaven there* are 
similar objects to those in the inmost and middle heavens, 
but with a difference in the delights and charms which 
they possess, according to their degrees of light and heat. 
There are also in the inmost heaven fruits and seeds of 
pure gold ; in the middle heaven the same objects are of 
silver; and in the lowest, of copper; there are also flow 
ers formed of precious stones and crystals. All these 
are productions springing forth from the earth there, for 



160 THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 

there is earth there as in the world of nature, though its 
productions are not from seed that is sown, but from 
created seed. Creation again is there instantaneous, its 
duration being sometimes continued, and at others but 
for a moment. These objects all exist by means of the 
forces which proceed from the light and heat of the sun 
in heaven, without any supplementary or auxiliary forces 
arising from the light and heat of the sun in the world. 
Hence the material substances on the earth of our world 
are fixed, and the germinations from it constant ; but the 
substances on the earth in heaven are not fixed, and 
therefore the germinations from it are not constant. All 
things there are spiritual under a natural appearance ; 
but it is otherwise on the earth, which is subject to the 
sun of the natural world. These particulars are adduced 
in confirmation of this point, that there are in everything 
spiritual, not only in its first principles, but also in its 
last, whether it is in heaven or in the world, these three 
forces, the active, the creative, and the formative, and 
that they continually advance to their own respective 
ultimate, in which they terminate and close. Hence it 
is that earth equally exists in the heavens ; for the earth 
there is these forces in their ultimates. The difference 
is that the earth there is spiritual in its origin, while the 
earth here is natural; the productions again from our 
earth are derived from that which is spiritual, through 
nature as a medium, while those on the earth there are 
formed without nature's assistance. 

100. VI. That both animals and vegetables have the same 
origin, and thence the same soul; the only difference being 
in the forms into which the influx is received. 

It has been shown above that the origin of animals, 
which also is their soul, is a spiritual affection, suck as 



THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 161 

man possesses in his natural principle. That the same 
affection is also the origin of vegetables, is evident 
especially from the vegetables in the heavens ; in their 
appearing there, for instance, according to the affections 
of the angels, and representing them, so much so, that 
the angels behold and learn in them, as in their own 
types, the quality of their affections ; and further, in 
their changing according to their affections. This, how- 
ever, occurs out of the societies. The only difference is, 
that it is from the spiritual principle in its intermediates, 
that the affections appear under the form of animals, 
and from the spiritual principle in its ultimates which 
are the earth there, that they appear under the form of 
vegetables. For the spiritual principle in its interme- 
diates is alive, but in its ultimates it is not so, retaining 
in the latter case no more life than is sufficient to produce 
a resemblance of life. The case is almost the same as in 
the human body, the ultimates in which, produced from 
the spiritual principle, are the cartilages, the bones, the 
teeth, and the nails, the life, which is from the soul, 
terminating in them. It does not at the first view 
appear that the vegetative soul is from the same origin as 
that of the beasts of the earth, the birds of heaven, and 
the fishes of the sea, in consequence of the difference that 
the one lives and the other does not. That it is so, is 
nevertheless manifestly evident from the animals, as well 
as the vegetables which are seen in the heavens and in 
the hells. In the heavens there appear beautiful ani- 
mals, and vegetables of a similar quality ; in the hells, 
on the other hand, appear noxious animals, and vegeta- 
bles of a similar quality. From the appearances also 
of the animals, and similarly from those of the vegeta- 
bles, the angels and spirits are known ; " for there is a 



162 THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 

complete agreement between their affections and these 
appearances. The agreement is even of such a nature, 
that an animal may be changed into a vegetable in 
agreement with it, and a vegetable into an animal in 
the same condition. The angels of heaven know the 
degree of affection represented both in the one and in the 
other. I have also heard and perceived that it is in each 
case similar. I have been permitted to understand 
clearly the correspondence, not only between animals, 
but vegetables also, and the societies both of heaven and 
hell, and thus between them and the affections of these 
societies ; for societies and affections in the spiritual world 
make one. Hence it is that in so many passages in the 
Word mention is made of gardens, groves, forests, and 
trees, as well as of plants of various kinds ; and that 
they there signify spiritual objects according to their 
respective origins, which all refer to affections. The 
difference, therefore, between the vegetables in the spirit- 
ual world, and those in the natural world is, that in the 
former world they exist, both the seeds and the germi- 
nations from them, in a moment, according to the affec- 
tions of the angels and spirits there ; while in the latter 
their origin is implanted in the seeds, from which they 
spring every year. There are moreover two properties 
belonging to nature, viz., time with its succession, and 
space with its extension, which do not exist in the 
spiritual world as properties belonging to it ; they are 
there the appearances of states of life in those who dwell 
there. Hence also it is, that from the earth there, which 
exists from a spiritual origin, the vegetables are produced 
in a moment, and are also in a moment removed. This 
however occurs only when the angels retire, for when 
they remain, the vegetables continue. Such is the differ- 



THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 163 

ence between the vegetables in the spiritual world and 
those in the natural. 

101. VII. That this origin is from use. 

The reason of this is, that affections have reference to 
uses ; use being the subject of all affection. For man 
cannot be affected, unless it is for the sake of some- 
thing, and this something is use. Now since all affection 
supposes use, and the vegetative soul, from its spiritual 
origin, is affection, therefore it is also use. From this 
cause it is that there is use inherent in every vegetable, 
spiritual use in the spiritual world, and both spiritual 
and natural use in the natural world ; the spiritual 
use being for the various states of the mind, and the 
natural for the various states of the body. It is well 
known that the spirits (animi) are revived, refreshed, 
and excited, and again brought into a state of slumber, 
sadness, and fainting, by the odors and flavors of different 
vegetables, whilst the body also is on the one hand 
restored to health by the vegetables themselves, and 
by the various preparations, remedies, and medicines, 
that are made from them, and is on the other hand 
deprived of life by the poisons that are extracted from 
them. The external spiritual use derived from them in 
the heavens is. the refreshing of the spirits ; the internal 
is the representation of divine things' in them, and thus 
also the elevation of the spirits. For the wiser angels 
see in them the quality of their affections in a series ; 
the varieties of the flowers in their order, the variegations 
in their colors, the perfumes also, rendering manifest 
their affections and everything that lies more remotely 
concealed within them. For every ultimate affection 
which is called natural, although it is really spiritual, 
derives its quality from an interior affection which 



164: THE ATHANASIAN GREED. 

proceeds from intelligence and love, while these again 
derive theirs from use and the love of it. In a word, no 
other plant but use blossoms from the soil in the heavens, 
because use is the vegetative soul. And since use is the 
vegetative soul, therefore it is that in those places in the 
spiritual world which are called deserts and are inhabited 
by such as in the present world rejected the works of 
charity, which are essential uses, there is not the appear- 
ance of a blade of grass or a single herb, but all is mere 
gravel and sand. By the uses which alone blossom in the 
heavens, is meant all good in active operation ; and this 
proceeds from the Lord, by means of love to Him, and 
towards the neighbor. Every vegetable there represents 
a form of use ; and all that appears in it — from its origin 
to its ultimate, and from its ultimate to its origin, or 
from the seed to the flower, and from the flower to 
the seed — represents the progress and extension of affec- 
tion and its use from one end or purpose to another. 
Those who are skilled in botany, chemistry, medicine, 
or pharmacy, come after death into the knowledge of 
the spiritual uses derived from the vegetables in the 
spiritual world ; they also cultivate it, and derive from 
it the highest gratification. I have conversed with them 
and heard from them astonishing things. 

102. From the "observations that have been thus far 
made respecting the life which proceeds from the Lord, 
respecting also the existence of all things in the universe 
derived from it, every man who is wise in heart may see 
that nature does not produce anything from itself, but 
that, for the purpose of producing, it merely ministers to 
the spiritual principle proceeding from the sun of heaven, 
which is the Lord ; as the instrumental cause ministers to 
its principal cause, or a dead force to its living force. 



THE ATH AN ASIAN CREED. 165 

From this it is evident how much men are in error, who 
ascribe to nature the generations of animals and produc- 
tions of vegetables ; for they are like those who ascribe 
magnificent and splendid works to the tool rather than to 
the artist, or who worship a sculptured image in prefer- 
ence to God. The fallacies, which are innumerable in all 
reasoning on spiritual, moral, and civil subjects, originate 
in this source ; for a fallacy is the inversion of order ; it 
is the judgment of the eye, rather than of the mind, the 
conclusion drawn from the appearance of a thing, rather 
than from its essence. To reason therefore from fallacies 
about the world and the existence of the things contained 
in it is, to confirm as it were by argument that darkness 
is light, that that which is dead is alive, and that the 
body enters by influx into the soul, rather than the con- 
trary. It is, however, an eternal truth that influx is spir- 
itual, and not physical ; that is, it is from the soul, which 
is spiritual, into the body which is natural, and from the 
spiritual world into the natural ; and further that it is 
the Divine Being proceeding from Himself, and as He 
created all things by that which proceeds from Himself, 
so also he sustains all things by it ; and lastly, that sus- 
tentation is perpetual creation, as subsistence is perpetual 
existence. 

103. We have treated of infinity and eternity, and also 
of providence and omnipotence, which belong to the 
Lord ; we must now treat of omnipresence and omni- 
science, which also belong to Him. It is acknowledged 
in every form of religion that Grod is omnipresent and 
omniscient. Hence it is that men pray to Him to hear 
them, to look upon them, and to have mercy upon them. 
This they would not do, unless they believed in his omni- 
presence and omniscience. Their belief is derived from 



166 THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 

an influx from the spiritual world in the ease of those who 
are possessed of religion ; for from religion itself there 
arises no question, whether the belief exists or how it ex- 
ists. But because at the present day, and especially in the 
Christian world, the number of natural men is increased, 
who neither see anything of God, nor believe anything 
of Him which they do not see — for if they profess to 
believe, it is either from some notion Of duty, from a blind 
knowledge, or from hypocrisy — and yet they have the 
power to see ; in order therefore that such men may 
exercise this power, permission is granted to treat of the 
subjects which relate to God, from spiritual light, and 
from a rational sight derived from it. For every man, 
even the merely natural and sensual, is endowed with an 
understanding capable of elevation into the light of 
heaven, and able both to discern and comprehend spirit- 
ual and even divine subjects. His understanding is 
however capable of this elevation only when he hears 
them or reads of them, or afterwards from memory speaks 
of them ; for he cannot think of them inwardly from him- 
self. The reason of this is, that whilst he hears or reads, 
the understanding is separated from its own affection, 
and when it is so separated, it is in the light of heaven ; 
but when he thinks inwardly from himself, the under- 
standing is then conjoined to the affection of its own will, 
and this affection fills and detains it, preventing its 
escape. But still the true state of the case is, that the 
understanding can be separated from the affection of the 
will, and thus be elevated into the light of heaven, in the 
case of those natural men who are in the affection of 
truth, and have not confirmed themselves into falsities. 
It is however with difficulty that this is done in the case 
of those who are not in the affection of truth, in conse- 



THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 167 

quence of having rejected divine things, or confirmed 
themselves in falsities. With these there is as it were a 
shady covering between spiritual light and natural ; still 
with many this covering is transparent. Since then 
every man whatever, even the corporeal-sensual, is, when 
he has reached maturity, endowed with such a faculty of 
understanding, that when he hears or reads of the sub- 
jects which relate to God, he can comprehend them, and 
afterwards retain them in his memory, and from that 
speak of them, teach them, and write about them, it is 
of importance that the work on the divine attributes 
should be continued as it was begun. We shall therefore 
now treat of the divine omnipresence, and the divine 
omniscience, lest the merely natural man, through the 
want of will — which he calls the want of power — to 
understand any divine or spiritual subject, should involve 
them in doubt, so far even as to deny their existence. 

104.- But the way in which the Lord can be present 
with all who are in heaven and in the whole earth, and 
also know all things, even the most minute, present and 
future, connected with them, is a subject which cannot 
be understood, but by means of the following proposi- 
tions : — 

I. That there are in the natural world spaces and times, 
but that they are in the spiritual world appearances. 

II. That spaces and times must be removed from the 
ideas, in order that the omnipresence of the Lord with 
all men, collective and several, as well as His omniscience 
of things present and future connected with them, may 
be understood. 

in. That all the angels of heaven, and all the men on 
earth, who forju the church, are as one man, and that the 
Lord is tbe life of this man. 



168 THE ATHAN ASIAN CREED. 

IV. That consequently as there is life — in all the seve- 
ral and most minute parts of man, and it is cognizant 
of their whole state, so the Lord is in all the several and 
most minute things belonging to the angels of heaven 
and to the men of the church. 

V. That the Lord, from the intellectual faculty which 
every man possesses, and from its opposite, is also pres- 
ent with those who are out of the church — who are in 
hell, or will come into hell — and know T s their whole 
state. 

VI. That from the Lord's omnipresence and omniscience 
thus perceived, the understanding is enabled to see how 
He is the All and the In-all of heaven and the church) 
and that we are in Him, and He in us., 

VII. That the Lord's omnipresence and omniscience 
may be understood also from the creation of the uni- 
verse ; for it was so created by Him that He is in first 
principles and in ultimates; in the centre and at the 
same time in the circumferences ; and that all things in 
which he is are uses. 

VIII. That because divine love and divine wisdom 
belong to the Lord, therefore divine omnipresence and 
divine omniscience, proceeding from them both, belong 
to Him ; the former proceeding principally from divine 
love, the latter principally from divine wisdom. 

105. I. That there are in the natural world spaces and 
times, but that they are in the spiritual world appearances. 

The reason of this is, that all things which appear in 
the spiritual world exist immediately from the sun of 
heaven, which is the divine love of the Lord ; whereas 
all things which appear in the natural world exist from 
the same source, but by means of the sun jrf this world, 
which is pure fire. Pure love, from which all things 



THE ATH AN ASIAN CREED. 1G9 

exist immediately from the Lord, is immaterial; but 
pure fire, through which all things exist mediately in 
the natural world, is material. Hence it is that all things 
which exist in the spiritual world are, from their origin, 
spiritual ; and that all things which exist in the natural 
world, are, from their secondary origin, material. Mate- 
rial things are also in themselves fixed, stated, and 
measurable. They are fixed, because, however the states 
of men change, they continue permanent, as the earth, 
mountains, and seas. They are stated, because they con- 
stantly recur in their turns, as seasons, generations, and 
germinations. They are measurable, because all things 
may be defined ; as spaces, by means of miles and fur- 
longs, and these by means of paces and yards; times 
again, by means of days, weeks, months, and years. 
But in the spiritual world all things are as if they were 
fixed, stated, and measurable, but still they are not so in 
reality; for they exist and continue according to the 
states of the angels, so that with these very states they 
make one ; they therefore vary also, as these states vary. 
This however occurs chiefly in the world of spirits, into 
which every man first comes after death ; it is not the 
case in heaven or in hell. The reason that it occurs 
there is, that every man there undergoes changes of state, 
and is prepared for heaven or for hell. The spirits do 
not however reflect upon these changes and variations, 
because they are spiritual, and for this reason have 
spiritual ideas, with which all the collective and several 
objects perceived by their senses make one ; because also 
they are separated from nature, but still see in the world 
of spirits objects altogether similar to those which they 
saw in the natural world, as lands, mountains, and valleys, 
waters, gardens, and forests, vegetables, palaces, and 

8 



170 THE ATH AN ASIAN CREED. 

houses, garments too with which they are clothed, and 
food by which they are nourished, and besides these, 
animals also, and themselves as men. They see all these 
objects in a clearer light than they saw similar objects 
in the world, and they perceive them also by a more 
exquisite sense of touch. Hence it is that man- after 
death is not at all aware that he has put off his material 
covering, and migrated from the world of his body into 
that of his spirit. I have heard many men say that 
they were not dead, and that they could not conceive 
how any portion of their body could have been cast into 
the grave ; and for this reason, that all objects in the 
spiritual world are similar to those in the natural. They 
were not aware that the objects which are seen and felt 
there are not material, but substantial from a spiritual 
origin, and that they are notwithstanding still real, 
because they exist from the same origin as all the objects 
in the natural world. The only difference is that an 
additional covering, an over-garment, so to speak, from 
the sun, has been given to the objects which exist in the 
natural world, and from this they became material, fixed, 
stated, and measurable. I can positively affirm that the 
objects which exist in the spiritual world are even more 
real than those in the natural; for that which is in nature 
added to the spiritual principle is dead, and does not 
produce reality, but diminishes it. That there is this 
diminution arising from this cause, is plainly evident 
from the state of the angels of heaven compared with 
that of men on earth, and from all the objects existing 
in heaven compared with all those existing in the world. 
106. Since there are in heaven objects similar to those 
which exist in our world, there are therefore spaces and 
times there also^ but the spaces, like the earth itself 



THE ATHAN ASIAN CREED. 171 

there and the objects upon it, are appearances. For 
they appear according to the states of the angels ; and 
the extensions of spaces, or the distances, are according 
to the similarities and dissimilarities of these states. By 
states are meant states of love and wisdom, or of affections 
and thoughts derived from them, and these states are 
manifold and various ; according to them is the distance 
of the angelic societies in the heavens from each other, 
that of the heavens also from the hells, and that of the 
societies in them from each other. I have been permitted 
to see how similarity of state, contracting the extension of 
space or distance, produces conjunction ; and how dissimi- 
larity, increasing such extension, causes separation. There 
those who to appearance are a mile distant from each 
other, can in a moment be together, when the love of the 
one towards the other is excited ; and, on the other 
hand, those who are conversing together can in a moment 
be a mile asunder, when any feeling of hatred is roused. 
That spaces in the spiritual world are merely appearances, 
has also been evident to me from this, that there have 
become present with me several persons from distant 
countries, Trom the various kingdoms of Europe, for in- 
stance ; from Africa and India ; the inhabitants also of 
other planets, and of remote earths. Spaces however still 
appear in the heavens extended in a similar manner to 
those of our earth ; but existing there from a spiritual 
origin, and not at the same time from a natural origin, 
and deriving their appearance from it, according to the 
states of the angels, therefore it is that the angels can have 
no idea of spaces, but have instead of it an idea of their 
own states. For when the spaces are changeable, an idea 
of states is produced from an origin which is spiritual, that 
is, according to the similarity or dissimilarity of affections 



172 THE ATHANASIAN CKEED. 

and of the thoughts derived from them. The case is 
similar with regard to periods of time, which resemble 
spaces ; for progressions through spaces are also progres- 
sions through periods of time. The reason that these also 
are appearances of states is, that the sun of heaven, which 
is the Lord, does not there, bj means of circumvolutions 
and progressions, produce days and years, as the sun of 
the world appears to do ; and therefore it is that there is 
in the heavens perpetual light, as well as perpetual 
spring ; and hence times there are not fixed, stated, or 
measurable. Since then periods of time also are varied 
according to the states of affections and of the thoughts 
derived from them, for they are short and contracted 
when the affections are gratified, but long and protracted 
in the opposite case, therefore it is that the angels have no 
idea of time derived from appearance, but an idea of 
states derived from the origin of the appearance. From 
these circumstances it is plain that the angels in heaven 
have no idea of space and time ; their idea of them, which 
is spiritual, being an idea of state. But an idea of state, 
and the consequent idea of an appearance of space and 
time, exist only in and from the ultimates of creation 
there, which are the earth upon which the angels dwell. 
It is there that there are the appearances of spaces and 
times, and not in the spiritual things themselves from 
which the ultimates were created, nor even in the affec- 
tions of the angels, unless the thought derived from the 
affections extends to the ultimates. But it is otherwise 
in the natural world, where spaces and times are fixed, 
stated, and measurable, and therefore enter into the 
thoughts of men, and limit them, separating them from 
the spiritual thoughts of the angels. It is chiefly from 
this circumstance that man can with difficulty compre- 



THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 173 

hend the divine omnipresence and omniscience; for even 
if he has the will to understand them, he may possibly fall 
into the error that God is the inmost principle of nature, 
and in this way omnipresent and omniscient. 

107. II. That spaces and times must be removed from 
the ideas, in order that the omnipresence of the Lord 
with all men, collective and several, as well as His omni- 
science of things present and future connected with them, 
may be understood. 

Since however spaces and times can with difficulty be 
removed from the ideas of thought in the natural man, it 
is better that the simple-minded should not think of the 
divine omnipresence and omniscience from any reasoning 
of the understanding, but simply believe them from a 
principle of religion. If a man of this kind thinks of 
them from reason, let him acknowledge in his own mind 
that they exist, because they are attributes of God, God 
being everywhere and infinite ; and because the Word 
also teaches this. If again he thinks of them from nature, 
and from space and time which belong to it, let him 
acknowledge again in his own mind that they have a 
miraculous origin. But because at the present day natu- 
ralism has almost deluged the church, and can only be 
dispersed by means of rational arguments which will 
enable man to see that this is the case, these divine attri- 
butes shall therefore be placed in their true light, and 
cleared of the darkness with which nature overspreads, 
them. This can moreover be done, because, as was before 
said, the understanding conferred upon man is capable of 
elevation into the interior light of heaven, provided only 
he desires, from a principle of love, to be acquainted with 
truths. All naturalism arises from thinking of divine 
subjects from the properties of nature, which are matter, 



174 THE ATHANASIAN CKEED. 

space, and time. The mind which is riveted to these 
properties, and unwilling to believe anything that it does 
not understand, cannot do otherwise than blind its under- 
standing, and from the darkness into which it has plunged 
it, deny that any Divine Providence exists, and thence 
affirm that there is neither Omnipotence, Omnipresence, 
nor Omniscience. These attributes nevertheless are, pre- 
cisely as religion teaches, both within nature and above 
it, but they cannot be comprehended by the understand- 
ing unless space and time are removed from its ideas in 
thinking on the subject ; for these properties of matter 
are, in some way or other, inherent in every idea of 
thought. If therefore they are not removed, no other 
thought can be formed than that nature is everything, 
that it is self-existent, that life is derived from it, that its 
inmost principle is that which is called God, and that all 
besides it is imaginary. I know that men will also be 
astonished to hear that there is any existence where there 
is neither.time nor space ; that the Divine principle itself 
exists without them ; and that spiritual beings do not 
exist in them, but merely in the appearances of them — 
though divine spiritual things are at the same time the 
very essences of all things that have ever existed or that 
still exist — and that natural things without spiritual things 
are like bodies without souls, which become mere carcases. 
Every man who has become a naturalist, by means of 
thought derived from nature, remains such also after 
death, calling all the objects that he sees in the spiritual 
world natural, because they are similar to those in the 
natural world. Men of this kind are however enlightened 
and taught by the angels that these objects are not natural, 
but that they are the appearances of natural things, and 
they are convinced so far as to affirm that this is the ease. 



THE ATHAKASIAN CREED. 175 

Still they relapse and worship nature, as they had done 
in the world, until at length, separating themselves from 
the angels, they fall into hell, and cannot be rescued from 
it to eternity. The reason of this is that their soul is not 
spiritual but natural, like that of the beasts, with the 
faculty still of thinking and speaking, because they were 
born men. Now because the hells are at this day, more 
than at any former period, filled with men of this class, 
it is of importance that darkness so dense arising from 
nature closing and barring up the thresholds of men's 
understandings, should be removed by means of rational 
light derived from spiritual. 

108. in. That all the angels of heaven and all the men 
on earth, who form the church, are as one man, and that the 
Lord is the life of this man. 

This point may be seen established in the work on 
Heaven and Hell, under the following articles: — 1st, 
That the whole heaven in the complex has reference to 
one man, n. 59-67. 2nd, That each society in the 
heavens has reference to one man, n. 68-72. 3rd, That 
hence every angel is in a perfect human form, n. 73-77 ; 
and 4th, That heaven in the whole and in part has refer- 
ence to man, being derived from the Divine Human of 
the Lord, n. 78-87 ; that there is also a correspondence 
between all the things of heaven and all the things of 
man, n. 87-102 ; that the same may be said of the Lord's 
church on earth, n. 57. Experience has taught me, and 
reason still teaches, that heaven is as if one man. Expe- 
rience has taught me this in the following manner: I 
have been permitted to see a society, consisting of thou- 
sands of angels, as one man of moderate stature ; soci- 
eties also consisting of fewer angels in a similar manner. 
This however is not apparent to the angels in any soci- 



176 THE ATHAN ASIAN CREED. 

ety, but to those who are out of it and at a distance from 
it, and at such times as a society is to be cleared of 
strangers. For when this takes place, all those who 
form the society's life, are within the man and remain, 
but those who do not form it are not so, and are re- 
moved. The case is similar with the whole heaven in 
presence of the Lord. It is from this cause and from 
this cause alone, that every angel and spirit is a man, 
in form similar to that in which he is a man on earth. 
I have not indeed seen, but I have heard, that the 
church also on earth is before the Lord as one man, 
that it is also divided into societies, and that each society 
is a man ; and further, that all who are comprehended 
within this man are within heaven, but those who are 
not so, are in hell. The reason again of this has been 
stated, that every man belonging to the church is also 
an angel of heaven, for he becomes an angel after death. 
The church moreover on earth, together with the angels, 
forms not only the interiors of this man, but also the 
exteriors, which are called cartilaginous and bony. The 
church forms this, because men on earth are endued 
with a body, in which the ultimate spiritual principle is 
clothed with the natural, and it is this that constitutes 
the conjunction of heaven with the church, and of the 
church with heaven. The same lesson is taught from 
reason : The sole cause that heaven and the church are 
a man in the greatest, the less, and the least concrete or 
complex is, that God is Man, and hence the divine pro- 
ceeding, which is the divine principle from Him, is simi- 
lar in everything, least and greatest, that is man. For, 
as was said above, the divine principle is not in space 
and extended, but it causes spaces and extensions to 
exist in the ultimates of His creation, in the heavens 



THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 177 

apparently, but in the world actually. But still spaces 
and extensions are not such before God, for He in His 
divine principle is everywhere. This is clearly evident 
from the circumstance that the whole angelic heaven, 
together with the church, is in the presence of the Lord 
as one man ; in like manner a society consisting of thou- 
sands of angels is so, although their habitations appear 
extended through much space. It is also evident from 
this that the whole heaven or an entire society in heaven, 
can, at the good pleasure of the Lord, appear as a man, 
great or small, as a giant or as an infant. And yet it is 
not the angels that appear so, but the divine principle in 
them; for the angels are only recipients of the divine 
principle from the Lord, and the divine principle in them 
forms the angelic principle, and thence heaven. Because 
the angels are only recipients, and the divine principle 
in them forms the angelic principle and heaven, it is 
evident that the Lord is the life of this man, that is, of 
heaven and the church. 

109. IV. That consequently as there is life in all the seve- 
ral and most minute parts of man, and it is cognizant of 
their whole state, so the Lord is in all the several and most 
minute things belonging to the angels of heaven, and to the 
men of the church. 

The reason that there is life in all the several and most 
minute parts of man is, that the various and diverse 
things existing in him, which are called members, or- 
gans, and viscera, numerous as they are, so make one 
that he has no other knowledge than that he is a simple, 
rather than a compound being. That there is life in his 
most minute parts is evident from the following facts : — 
that from his own life he sees, hears, smells, and tastes, 
which would not be the case, unless the organs of those 

8* 



178 THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 

senses also lived from the life of his soul; — that the 
whole surface of his body is endued with the sense of 
touch, since it is the life, and not the skin without it, 
which produces this sense ; — that all the muscles beneath 
the skin are under the control of the life of his will and 
understanding, and are moved at their pleasure; thus 
not only are the hands and feet moved, and the entire 
body, but the tongue also, the lips, the face, and the 
whole head. Neither the one nor the* other can be 
moved by the body alone, but by the life derived from 
the will and the understanding, together with the life in 
the members themselves. The case is similar with every 
one of the viscera in the body, each performing there 
its own office, and acting with willing obedience, accord- 
ing to the laws of order inscribed upon them. It is, 
however, the life which produces this activity, while 
man is unconscious of it, by means of motion in all the 
several parts, derived from the heart and the lungs ; and 
by means also of sensation in all the several parts, de- 
rived from the cerebellum. The reason that there is life 
in all the several and most minute parts of man is, that 
the animal form, of which we have treated above, is the 
essential form of life. For life from its first source, which 
is the sun of heaven or the Lord, is perpetually in the 
effort of forming a likeness and image of itself, that is, 
man, and out of man an angel ; and therefore from the 
ultimates, which it created, it attaches to itself substances 
suitable in form, that by their means man may exist, in 
whom it may live. Hence it is plain, that there is life 
in all the several and most minute parts of man ; and 
that the part or even the particle in which there is no 
life, becomes dead and is dissevered. Since then men 
and angels are not life, but only recipients of life from 



THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 179 

the Lord, and since the whole heaven, with the church, 
is in the presence of the Lord as one man, it is evident 
that the Lord is the life of this man, that is, of heaven 
and the church, and further that He is omnipresent and 
omniscient in all the several and most minute things 
belonging to the angels of heaven, and to the men of the 
church. Because the whole heaven together with the 
church is in the presence of the Lord as one man, accord- 
ing to His will great or small, as a giant or as an infant, 
it is evident, that the life or spiritual principle, which 
proceeds from the Lord, is not in space, or extended 
with the angels of heaven, or with the men of the church, 
consequently that spaces and times must be removed 
from the ideas, in order that the Lord's omnipresence and 
omniscience with all men, collective and several, may be 
understood. 

110. V. That the Lord, from the intellectual faculty which 
every man possesses, and from its opposite, is also present 
vrith those who are out of the church — who are in hell, or 
will come into hell — and knows their whole state. 

Every man has three degrees of life ; the lowest is 
common to him with the beasts ; but the two higher are 
not so. It is by means of these two higher degrees that 
man is man ; they are closed with the wicked, but are 
open with the good. They are not however closed with 
reference to the light of heaven, which is wisdom, and 
proceeds from the Lord as a sun ; but they are so with 
reference to the heat, which is love, and proceeds at the 
same time from the same source. Hence it is that every 
man, even the wicked, has the faculty of understanding, 
though not that of willing, from heavenly love. For the 
will is the receptacle of heat, that is of love ; and the 
understanding is the receptacle of light, that is of wisdom, 



180 THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 

from this sun. The reason that every man is not intelli- 
gent and wise is, that he who is not so had by means of 
his life closed, in his case, the receptacle of this love ; 
and this being closed, he has no will to understand any- 
thing else than that which he loves ; for it is this that he 
wills and loves to be the object of his thoughts, and 
hence also of his understanding. Since then every man, 
even the wicked, has the faculty of understanding, 
derived from the influx of light from the sun which is 
the Lord, it is plain that the Lord is present with those 
who are out of heaven and the church, and who are either 
in hell, or will go thither. It is from this faculty also 
that man has the power of thinking and reasoning on a 
variety of subjects of which beasts are incapable ; and 
from this faculty again it is that man lives for ever. 
Another proof of the Lord's omnipresence in hell is, that 
the whole of hell, equally with the whole of heaven, is 
before the Lord as one man ; but in this case it is a man 
in the form of a devil, that is, a monster. With him all 
things are in opposition to those which are in the divine 
man-angel, and therefore from the latter is known every- 
thing that exists in the former ; that is, from heaven is 
known everything that exists in hell. For from good 
evil is known, and from truth falsity ; thus all the quality 
of the latter from that of the former. There are three 
heavens and three hells ; and as the former are divided 
into societies, so also are the latter ; every society in hell 
corresponding, by contrast, to a society in heaven, the 
correspondence being like that between good and evil 
affections ; for all the societies are affections. Thus as 
each society in heaven is, as has been said, in the sight 
of the Lord like one man, an angel in the similarity of 
its affections ; so also each society in hell is in the sight 



THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 181 

of the Lord like one man, a devil in the similarity of its 
evil affection. I have been permitted to see this. The 
societies of this latter kind appear indeed as men, but of 
a monstrous form ; I have seen three kinds of them, 
the fiery, the black, and the pallid ; all of them have 
however deformed features, a husky tone of voice, exter- 
nal speech, and a corresponding demeanor. They all 
without exception show an utter absence of chastity, the 
delights of their will are evils, and those of their thought 
falsities. 

111. VI. That from the Lord's omnipresence and omni- 
science thus perceived, the understanding is enabled to see 
how He is the All and the In-all of heaven and the churchy 
and that we are in Him, and He in us. 

By all things of heaven and the church are meant the 
divine truth and the divine good ; the former being 
derived from the light of the sun of heaven, which is 
wisdom; the latter from its heat, which is love. The 
angels, in proportion as they are recipients of these 
principles, are heaven generally, as well as heavens 
individually ; and men, in proportion as they are reci- 
pients of them, are the church generally, as well as 
churches individually. There is not belonging to any 
angel anything which forms heaven in him, nor anything 
belonging to any man which forms the church in him, 
except the Divine proceeding from the Lord ; for it is 
well known that all the truth of faith and all the good 
of love are from the Lord, and no portion of them from 
man. From this it is evident that the Lord is the All 
and the In- all of heaven and the church. The Lord 
teaches in John that we are in Him and He in us: 
"Jesus said, He that eateth My flesh and drinketh My 
blood, dwelleth in Me and I in him " (vi. 56). And 



182 THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 

again : " In that day ye shall know that ye are in Me, 
and I in you " (xiv. 20, 21) ; and elsewhere, " In Him 
we live, and move, and have our being." All the angels 
of heaven and all the men of the church are in the Lord, 
and the Lord is in them, when they are in the heavenly 
man spoken of above. Angels and men are then in the 
Lord, because they are recipients of life from Him, thus 
are in His divine principle ; and the Lord is in them, be- 
cause He is the life in the recipients. Hence it is evi- 
dent, that all who are in a natural idea of the Lord, are 
unable to understand his omnipresence in any other way 
than as intuitive, although it is actual, like the omni- 
presence of the Holy Spirit, which is the Divine pro- 
ceeding. 

112. vn. That the Lord's omnipresence and omni- 
science may he understood also from the creation of the 
universe / for it was so created by Sim, that He is in 
first principles and in ultimates, in the centre and at 
the same time in the circumferences, and that all things 
in which lie is are uses. 

The truth of this proposition is evident from the crea- 
tion of the universe, from the life of man, and from the 
essence of uses. 

I. From the creation of the universe. This cannot be 
elsewhere better seen than from the types of it in the 
heavens, creation being there perpetual and instantaneous. 
For in the spiritual world lands exist in a moment, and 
upon them paradisiacal gardens, in which there are trees 
laden with fruits, shrubs also, with flowers and plants of 
every kind. When these are contemplated by the wise 
man, they are found to be correspondences of the uses in 
which the angels are principled, to whom they are given 
as a reward. For the angels are, according to their uses, 



THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 183 

presented with houses abounding in furniture and orna- 
ment with clothing also, and food which is delightful to 
the taste. They enjoy besides delightful intercourse with 
each other, which is also productive of uses, because it 
serves as the means of recreation. All these things are 
bestowed upon them without money or price, but still it 
is on account of the uses which they perform. In a 
word, the whole heaven is full of uses, so that it ought 
to be called the very kingdom of uses. But on the other 
hand, those who perform no use are banished to the 
hells, where they are compelled by a judge to do various 
kinds of work. If they refuse, there is no food given 
them, or clothing, or any other bed than the ground, and 
they are mocked and insulted by their companions, as 
slaves by their masters; the judge even allows them to 
be made their slaves, and if they entice others from their 
work, they are severely punished. The one kind of 
treatment as well as the other is adopted towards them, 
until they are compelled to yield. But those who can- 
not be made to yield are cast out into deserts, where they 
have a morsel of bread given them daily, with water to 
drink, and pass a solitary existence in huts or in caverns. 
Because they perform no uses, the earth around them is 
so barren that a sod with a blade of grass upon it is but 
seldom seen. I have seen in these deserts and hells many 
men of noble descent, who in the world gave themselves 
up to idleness, or sought for office, the duties of which 
they discharged, not for the sake of uses, but for the sake 
of honor or gain, the only uses they had in view. The 
uses which the angels perform in the heavens, and the 
different kinds of work which the spirits do in the hells, 
are in some measure similar to those which exist in the 
world. Most of the uses are however spiritual, and can- 



184 THE ATHAN ASIAN CREED. 

not be described in natural language ; they do not even 
fall within the ideas of natural thought — a circumstance 
at which I have often wondered ; but such is the nature 
of that which is spiritual in very many cases. From the 
perpetual and instantaneous creation of all things in the 
heavens may be seen as in a figure, the creation of the 
whole world with its earths, there being nothing created 
in the latter but for use. 'As a general principle, one 
kingdom of nature was created for the sake of another ; 
the mineral kingdom for the sake of the vegetable, the 
vegetable for the sake of the animal, and both the latter 
kingdoms for the sake of the human race, that its mem- 
bers may serve the Lord by performing uses to the 
neighbor. 

II. From the life of man. For if the life of man is re- 
garded from the creation of all things existing in him, 
there will be found no part which is not adapted for use, 
not a fibre or a vessel in the brains, in the organs of the 
senses, in the muscles, or in any one of the viscera of the 
thorax or abdomen, or in any of the others, which does 
not exist for the sake of use generally and individually, 
thus not for its own sake, but for the sake of the whole 
and the consociation of the parts. Even the greater 
forms which are called members, sensories, muscles, and 
viscera, woven together and organized, from fibres and 
vessels, are all from use, in use, and for the purpose of 
use, so much so, that they may be simply called the uses 
out of which the whole man is woven together and 
formed, it being clearly evident that they have no other 
origin or end but use. That every man is in a similar 
manner created and born for use, is plain from the use 
of all things in his physical frame, and from his state 
after death being such, that, if he does not perform any 



THE ATHANASIAN" CREED. 185 

use, he is considered so worthless that he is cast into 
infernal prisons, or into desert places. His life also indi- 
cates plainly that he was born to be use ; for the man 
whose life consists in the love of use, is entirely different 
from one whose life consists in the love of idleness, by 
which is also meant a life devoted to company, festivity, 
and public amusements. A life originating in the love 
of use is a life of love both of the public good, and of our 
neighbor ; it is moreover a life of love to the Lord, for 
the Lord performs uses to man by the agency of man. 
Hence a life originating in the love of use is a divine 
spiritual life, and therefore every man who loves good 
use, and from the love of it performs it, is loved by the 
Lord and received with joy by the angels in heaven. But 
a life originating in a love of idleness, is a life of self-love 
and of the love of the world ; and hence it is a merely 
natural life, which does not keep the thoughts of man 
together, but scatters them upon every vanity, by this 
means turning them away from the delights of wisdom, 
and plunging him into those of the mere body and the 
world, with which evils are in close connexion. Hence 
it is that a man of such a life is after death let down into 
the infernal society to which he had attached himself in 
the world, and is there, by the force of hunger and the 
want of food, compelled to work. By uses in the hea- 
vens and on earth are meant the services, callings, and 
pursuits of life, the various kinds of work, servitude, and 
labor, and thence all that is opposite to idleness and 
sloth. 

ill. From the essence of uses. For the essence of uses is 
the public good, by which is meant with the angels in 
the most general sense, the good of the whole heaven, in 
a less general sense the good of society, and in a particu- 



186 THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 

lar sense the good of a fellow-citizen. With men again 
the essence of uses is, in the most general sense, the good 
both spiritual and civil of the whole human race ; in a 
less general sense, the good of their country; in a parti- 
cular sense, the good of society ; and in an individual 
sense, the good of a fellow-citizen ; because these goods 
form their essence, love is their life, since all good ori- 
ginates in love, and in love there is life. Every one is in 
this love who is delighted with the use in which he is 
principled for the sake of such use, whether he is a king, 
a magistrate, a priest, a minister, a general, a merchant, 
or a laborer. Every one who is delighted with the use 
of his calling for the sake of such use, loves his country 
and his fellow-citizens ; but he who is not delighted with 
uses for the sake of uses, but performs them only for the 
sake of self or of mere honor and wealth, does not at 
heart love his country or his fellow-citizens, but merely 
himself and the world. The reason of that is, that no 
one can be kept by the Lord in the love of his neighbor, 
unless he is in some degree of love for the public good ; 
and no one is in such love unless he is in the love of use 
for the sake of use, or in the love of use from use, thus 
from the Lord. Now since all things, collective and 
several, were at the beginning created in the world for 
use, and all things also in man were formed for use, and 
the Lord from creation regarded as one man the whole 
human race, each member of which is in a similar manner 
designed for use or is use, and since the Lord Himself is, 
as was said above, the life of this man, it is plain that the 
universe was so created that the Lord is in first princi- 
ples and in ultimates, in the centre also and in the cir- 
cumferences, that is, in the midst of all things ; and that 
all things in which He is are uses. From these circurn- 



THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 187 

stances also the Lord's omnipresence and omniscience 
may be understood. 

113. viii. That because divine love and divine wisdom 
belong to the Lord, therefore divine omnipresence and divine 
omniscience, proceeding from them both, belong to Him ; the 
former proceeding principally from divine love, the latter 
principally from divine vjisdom. 

Love and wisdom in the Lord are not two but one ; 
and this one is the divine love, which before theangels 
in heaven appears as a sun. But the love and wisdom 
proceeding from the Lord as a sun appear as two distinct 
things, the love as heat, and the wisdom as light; but 
both, in virtue of their origin from the sun, act as one. 
They are however separated with the angels of heaven, 
and with the men of the church ; some, who receive the love 
which is heat more than the wisdom which is light, are 
called celestial angels and men ; and others, who receive 
the wisdom which is light more than the love which is 
heat, are called spiritual angels and men. These points 
may be illustrated by the sun of the world, in which fire 
and the origin of light are entirely one — this one being 
the fiery property of the sun. From this sun proceed 
heat and light, which appear as two distinct things, but 
still, in virtue of their origin, they act as one ; this one- 
ness of action being apparent on the earth in the seasons 
of spring and summer. They become however two dis- 
tinct things, according to the turning of the earth with 
regard to the sun, and thus also according as the recep- 
tion of the sun's influence is direct or oblique. This cor- 
respondence may serve as an illustration. The case is 
similar with the Lord's omnipresence and omniscience ; 
they are in Him one, but still they proceed from Him as 
two distinct attributes; the former having reference to 



188 THE ATH AN ASIAN CREED. 

love, and the latter to wisdom ; or, what is the same 
thing, the former referring to good, and the latter to 
truth, because all good originates in love, and all truth in 
wisdom. The reason that the'Lord's omnipresence refers 
to love and good is, that the Lord is present with man in 
the good which originates in his love; and the reason 
that His omniscience refers to wisdom and truth is, that 
by virtue of man's good which originates in his love, He 
is omnipresent in the truths of his understanding; and 
this omnipresence is called omniscience. The case is the 
same with all men generally, as it is with one man indi- 
vidually. 



ALPHABETICAL AND ANALYTICAL INDEX. 



The Numbers refer to the Paragraphs) and not to the Pages. 



Acknowledgment (The quality of ) is j 
precisely according to the quality of the j 
love, 89. 

Obs. — The word acknowledgment, in the 
writings of the Author, is almost always j 
taken in the acceptation of knowledge, 
resulting from a profound examina- j 
tion. 
Act as from himself (To), or by man's 
own power, 49, 61, 72, and elsewhere. 

Activities (That all) are changes of j 
state, and variations of forms, 45. 

Auokations (The) offered to men living ' 
and dead, to sepulchres also, to dead ! 
bodies, and to bones, is a demoniacal 
means of worship, originating in the love 
of self, 79. i 

Affections. The meaning of the term ! 
affection is similar to that of love. But 
love is as it were the fountain, and affec- j 
tions are as it were the streams flowing 
from it ; they are thus also continuations ! 
of it, 69. Affections flow by continuity , 
into the understanding, and produce 
thoughts, 69. Man is led by the Lord by : 
means of his affections rather than his ! 
thoughts, 69. The affections do not show 
themselves before man, but the thoughts ! 
do, 69 Affections produce thoughts, but ! 
thoughts do not produce affections, 69. j 
Evil affections of the will are all derived ; 
from the love of self and the love of the I 
world, 59. Affections have reference to 
uses, 101. 

Ancient People (The most) worshipped 
God as visible under a human form, 21. 
Obs. — The most ancient people were the 
men of the Church which existed be- 
fore the epoch described in the Word 
by the Deluge, and the ancient people 
were the men of the Church which, 
after the Deluge, succeeded the most 
ancient church, called by the Author, 
The Ancient Church. J his ancient 
church, which existed before the Is- 
raelitish Church, was spread over a 
great part of the globe. 
Angel (Every) is a man, having a soul, 
a body, and an operating principle, 18. 



This trine is one ; the esse of an angel is that 
which is called his soul, the existere is that 
which is called his body, and the procedere 
from both is that which is called his sphere 
of life, without which an angel has neither 
existence nor being, 17. By means of this 
threefold principle an angel is an image 
of God, 17. An angel is not life in him- 
self, he is a recipient of life, IS. An angel 
is not an angel from anything of his own, 
but from the Divine principle which he 
receives from the Lord, 20. All the angels 
of the three heavens think of God as of 
man, 20. Wisdom of the angels of the 
third heaven ; its first degree, 33. No 
angel can resist evils in the case of man, 
but the Lord alone, 62. 

Angel. Every man belonging to the 
Church is also an angel of heaven, for he 
becomes an angel after death, 108. 

Animals (Concerning the life of), 85-91. 
See Beasts. Instinct of Animals, 86, 87. 
Concerning the animals which appear in 
the spiritual world, 88. They are the ap- 
pearances of affections, S9. There are as 
many genera and species of animals in ex- 
istence, as there are genera and species of 
affections, 88. In the societies of heaven 
appear the gentle and clean animals, in the 
societies of hell, the savage and unclean 
beasts, and in the world of spirits, beasts 
of an intermediate kind, 89. Compound 
animals seen in the world of spirits, 89. 
Animus, 61, 66, 76, 101. 
Obs. — The Animus is a sort of external 
mind formed from the external affec- 
tions and inclinations, which are chiefly 
the result of education, society, and 
custom. See C. L., 246. See also 
Mind, obs. 
Apollo, 22. 

Appearances in the spiritual world, 88, 
and following. 

Obs. — Those things which, in the spiritual 
world, present themselves to the sight 
of spirits and angels, are called ap- 
pearances, because, corresponding to 
the interiors of spirits and angels, 
and representing them, they vary ao- 



190 



THE ATHANASiAN CKEED. 



cording to the states of these interiors. 
There are real and unreal appear- 
ances ; the latter are those which do 
not correspond to the interiors. H. 
and IT., 175. 
Arcanum concerning man's faith and 
love in this world, and afterwards in that, 
into which he comes after death, 2. 

Architectural Art (The) in heaven is 
Art herself, there realizing her own skill, 82. 
Arians. Unless men had accepted a 
trinity of persons, they would at that 
time have become Arians or Socinians, 
and the Christian Church would have 
perished, 16. None but Arian spirits speak 
with Arians, 74. See Spirits. 

Arrangkmknt of the affections in the 
heavens and in the hells, 34. 

Asses (The) which appear in the world 
of spirits, are manifestations of the affec- 
tions of spirits there. 

Obs. — In the Word, asses signify the 
scientific principle in particular, A. <?., 
2781. 
Astoroth, 32. 

Athanasius. The doctrine of the Trinity, 
which was confirmed by the Council of 
Nice, was drawn up by Athanasius, 10. 
When read, it leaves a clear idea that 
there are three unanimous Gods, but an 
obscure idea that God is one, 10. 

Baal, 22. 

Babel, in the Word, represents those 
who have set their throne in the heavens 
above the Lord, by arrogating to them- 
selves all His power, 79. 

Baptism is a symbol of the Church of 
the Lord, and the attestation that those 
who believe and live according to His com- 
mandments in the Word are saved, 73. 

Basilisks were not created from the 
beginning, but originated with hell. See 90. 

Obs. — Basilisks represent those who are 
in falses from evil, A. R., 601. 

Bears (The) which appear in the world 
of spirits are representations of the affec- 
tions of spirits, 89. 

Obs.— Bears, in the Word, represent 
those who only read the Word, and 
derive thence nothing of doctrine, C. 
X., 78. 

Beasts. No one can understand the 
nature of the life of beasts, unless he is also 
acquainted with the nature of their souls, 
8S. The soul of beasts consists of nothing 
hut affection, 83. The soul of bt-asts regard- 
ed in itself is spiritual, not however in the 
degree in which the souls of men are so, 
but in an inferior degree, 90. There is not 
a hair or thread of wool on any beast, that 
is not formed from the life of their soul, 
and thus that is not derived from the spi- 
ritual clothed with the natural, 88. Beasts 
and wild beasts, the souls of which are evil 
affections, were not created from the begin- 
ning, but originated with hell, 90. The 



difference between men and beasts, 91. 
Why a beast can only utter sounds, vary- 
ing the expression of its affections accord- 
ing to its appetites, 91. Why a beast 
does not live after death, 91. Concerning 
beasts in the spiritual world, they differ 
from beasts in the natural world in this, 
that they are only appearances of the af- 
fections of angels and spirits, 88. See An- 
imals. 

Beelzebub, 22. 

Bees Wonderful things relating to 
bees, 87. 
1 Being (The First), who is underived be- 
ing in himself, and the source from whom 
all things were created, is God, who from 
underived being in Himself, is called Je- 
hovah, 29. 

Belief (Erroneous) of the Roman Catho- 
lics, 3. Belief alone, or a belief merely of 
the thought, without actual belief, which is 
deed, is a nonentity, 8. 

Believe (To). If that which is not in- 
telligible is to be believed, man might have 
been taught like a parrot to say and to 
remember the most absurd things, 9. Be- 
lief or faith belongs to thought and ac- 
knowledgment, and hence to speech, and 
not to speech separate from thought and 
acknowledgment, 14. 

Birds. Their instincts, 87. No one can 
understand the nature and quality of the 
life of birds, unless he is also acquainted 
with the nature and quality of their soul, 
88. There is not the filament of a quill or 
feather upon any bird, that is not formed 
from the life of their soul, 88. 

Obs. — Birds, in the Word, represent in- 
telligence, and also the thoughts, A.O., 
5149. 

Birds op Paradise (The) which appear 
in heaven, are manifestations of the per- 
ceptions of angels, 89. See G. L., 270. 

Blessedness (All) in heaven is derived 
from uses and the love of them, 84. See Uses. 

Blindness (The) of those who confirm 
themselves against divine providence, or 
who deny it, arises from ignorance, 70. 

Bones (The), with the skins and cartila- 
ges, constitute the ultimate degree of life, 
28. Bones are in the number of the ulti- 
mates which are produced from the spirit- 
ual principle, the life which is from the soul 
terminating in them, 100. 

Botany, Chemistry, &c. Those who are 
skilled in botany, chemistry, medicine, or 
pharmacy, come after death into the know- 
ledge of the spiritual uses derived from the 
vegetables in the spiritual world, 101. 

Bride and Wife. In the Word the Lord 
is called the bridegroom and husband, and 
heaven and the Church are called the bride 
and wife, 8. 

Bridegroom. In the Word the Lord is 
called the bridegroom, and heaven and th» 
Church are called the bride, 8. 

Bulls. The bulls which appear in the 



ALPHABETICAL AND ANALYTICAL INDEX. 



191 



spiritual world are manifestations of the 
affections of spirits there, 89. 

Obs — A bull in the Word signifies the 
external good of innocence, A. C, 
10,132. 

Camels (The) which appear in the spirit- 
ual world are manifestations of the affec- 
tions of spirits there, 89. 

Obs. — The camel, in the Word, signifies 
the scientific principle in general, A. 
O., 2781 

Cartilages (The), with the bones and 
the skins, constitute the ultimate degree of 
life, 2S. The cartilages are among the ul- 
timates which the spiritual principle pro- 
duces in the human body, and in them is 
terminated the life which is from the soul, 
100. 

Caterpillars. The change which takes 
place in caterpillars is a representative type 
of man's re-birth, and of his redirection, 87. 

Catholic Faith (The), what it is, 1. 

Catholics (Roman), Their erroneous be- 
lief, 2 

Cause is a living force which is spiri- 
tual, while the effect derived from it is a 
dead force because it is natural, 95. The 
efficient cause is with the effect in all its 
collective and several parts, 86. The 
means or causes are also called the inter- 
mediate end's, because the principal end, 
which is everything in them, produces 
them, 77. These causes or intermediate 
ends are subordinate loves, and the princi- 
pal end is man's will's love, 77. In man, 
the principal cause, which is life, and the 
instrumental cause, which is the recipient 
of life, act together as one cause, 26. See 
Effect. 

Chalk-like Substances. Their vegeta- 
tion, 96. 

Changes of State. By state in man is 
meant his love ; and by changes of state 
the affections of love, 45. 

Chemosh, 22. 

Cherubim (The) above the mercy -seat, 
are the Word and that which proceeds from 
it, and in the Word the Lord talks with 
man as he did with Moses and Aaron be- 
tween the cherubim, 72. 

Christians. Whence have arisen cer- 
tain false ideas which Christians have en- 
tertained concerning God, 19. 

Church (The) of the Lord extends 
throughout the whole worM, 71. The an- 
cient Church was, like the Church in our 
day, divided into a number of sects, 71. 
Men, in proportion as they are recipients 
of the divine truth and the divine good, are 
the Church generally, as well as the Church 
individually, 111. There is not belonging 
to any man anything which forms the 
church in him, except the divine proceed- 
ing from the Lord, 111. See Ancient, obs. 

Obs. — The church of the Lord is univer- 
sal, and is with all who acknowledge 



a divine being, and live in charity, 
whatever may be their doctrinal ten- 
ets ; but the Church is more especially 
where the Word is, and where, by 
means of the Word, the Lord is known. 
In those countries where the Word 
does not exiit, or where the Word is 
withheld from the people, and replaced 
by human decisions, as among the Ro- 
man Catholics, there is a religion ; but, 
to speak correctly, there is no Church. 
Among Protestants there is a Church, 
but the church with them is at its end, 
because they have perverted the Word. 
Clothing signifies everything external 
which clothes the soul, 83. 

Compel (To\ No man can be compel- 
led to love and believe, 54. For man to 
compel himself is to act from freedom, 37, 
48. All compulsion by another takes away 
freedom, 37, 48. To compel himself is to 
resist evil and to fight against it as if from 
himself, but still to implore the Lord for 
aid to do so, 49. For a man to compel him- 
self is to compel himself from evil, but not 
to compel himself to good ; the reason 
why, 50. Man is compelled by miracles 
and visions, and also by fears and punish- 
ments, 53. No man can be compelled to 
love and believe, 54. 

Comprehend. Why man can with diffi- 
culty comprehend the divine omnipresence 
and omniscience, 106. 

Conjunction (The) of God with man and 
of man with God, is taught in the two ta- 
bles of the decalogue, 72 ; it is effected by 
a life in accordance with the precepts of 
the decalogue, 72. God conjoins himself 
to man by means of the good of love, and 
man conjoins himself to God by means of 
the truth of faith, 72. Man is in conjunc- 
tion with heaven whilst he lives in the 
world, although he is ignorant of it, 3. 
Man is of a quality altogether similar to 
his conjunction with the tocieties of the 
spiritual world, 2. 

Consociation (Man is in) with angels 
whilst he lives in the world, although both 
men and angels are ignorant of it, 3. 

Conversing with Spirits. By convers- 
ing with spirits, and the operation of the 
spirits upon man being openly felt, the 
worship of God was anciently converted 
into the worship of demons, and the Church 
perished, 74. 

Correspondence. All things of the 
body have a correspondence with the so- 
cieties of heaven, 86. There is a corre- 
spondence not only of animals, but also of 
vegetables, with the societies of heaven, 
and also of hell, 100. The thought of man 
and the thought of an angel make one 
only by correspondences, 3. The union 
of the thought of man with the thought of 
an angel or spirit by correspondences 
prevents men and spirits from knowing 
anything of each other, 74. 



192 



THE ATHANASTAN CREED. 



Council of Nice, 10. 
Country ( The native) of man is in the 
spiritual world, for he is to live there to 
eternity after he has lived a few years in 
the natural world, 4. 

Cheated (i'o be) is to exist from an- 
other, 29. 

Creation. The end of creation was, 
that out of the human race might be 
formed heaven, 36. The work of creation 
is perfected in ultimates, 95. The Lord's 
omnipresence and omniscience may be un- 
derstood also from the creation of the 
universe, for it was so created by Him that 
He is in first principles and in ultimates, 
in the centre and at the same time in the 
circumferences, and that all things in 
which He is are uses, 104. 
Ckeation (The first), 25, 34. 
Obs. — By the first creation the Author 
does not mean that there was a first 
and second creation, but as preserva- 
tion is perpetual creation, and as in 
preserving God continually creates, 
this expression points out more parti- 
cularly the creation of the universe. 
Creed (Athanasian), 1. Its doctrine 
examined, 10-16. 

Crocodiles were not created from the 
beginning, but originated with hell, 90. 
Obs. Crocodiles represent those who 

are in falses from evil, A. H., 601. 
Crows (The) which appear in hell are 
manifestations of the cupidities and falses 
of infernal spirits, 89. 

Obs. — Crows in the Word signify gross 
falsities, A. (?., 866. 

Danger (There is no) in departing from 
evil to good, but the danger is in depart- 
ing from good to evil, 55. The danger to 
which a man is exposed who speaks with 
spirits, T4. 

Death. What proceeds from the sun of 
the natural world is dead, 95. 

Degrees of Life. We can have no idea 
of the life which is God, unless we obtain 
an idea of the degrees through which life 
descends, 28. There is an inmost degree 
of life, and there is an ultimate degree of 
life, and there are intermediate degrees of 
it, 28. The distinction between them is 
like that between things prior and posteri- 
or, for a posterior degree exists from a 
prior, and so forth, 28, 90, 98. Every man 
has three degrees of life — the lowest is 
common to him with the beasts, but the 
two higher are not so, 110. 

Devil (Ky the term) is meant in the 
Word the hell inhabited by devils, 41. 
The devils are those in whom the love of 
self has predominated, 41. See /Satan. 

Diana, 22. 

Differgnge between men-angels and 
men-devils, 44. 

Difference (The) between men and 
beasts, 91; between nature and life, 95; 



between vegetables in the spiritual and in 
the natural world, 99, 100 ; between the 
earth in the spiritual and in the natural 
world, 99 ; between the productions of our 
earth, and those of the earth in the hea- 
vens, 99. 

Disagreement between the understand- 
ing and the will, in what it consists and 
why it exists, 65. 

Divine Esse (The) cannot be seen ex- 
cept through the divine existere, which is 
the divine human principle, 21. 

Divine Human (The) is a human prin- 
ciple from the Father which the Lord put 
on when he put off the human principle 
which He had from the mother whilst in 
the world, 15. Difference between the di- 
vine human before the Lord came into the 
world, and after He had left the world, 18. 

Divine Principle (The). One divine 
principle by itself is not given, but there 
will be a threefold principle, 17. The di- 
vine principle is called the Father, the 
divine human is called the Son, and the 
divine proceeding is called the Holy Spirit, 
13. The divine principle, which is called 
the Father, is the divine esse; the divine hu- 
man, which is called the Son, is the divine 
existere from that esse ; and the divine 
principle, which is called the Holy Spirit, 
is the divine proceeding from the divine 
existere and the divine esse, 17. Divine 
things taken together are God, 7. 

Divine truths are laws of order, 31. 

Doctrine of the Trinity (Examina- 
tion of the) which was drawn up by Atha- 
nasius, confirmed by the Council of Nice, 
and received throughout Christendom, 2, 
10, 16. 

Dogs (Instinct of), 87. The dogs which 
appear in hell, are manifestations of the 
lusts of infernal spirits, 89. 

Obs. — Dogs signify in general those who 
are in concupiscences of all kinds, 
and who give themselves up thereto, 
and especially those who are in cor- 
poreal pleasures, more particularly 
those who are addicted to the plea- 
sures of the table, A. B , 952. 

Doves (The) which appear in heaven are 
manifestations of the thoughts and affec- 
tions of the angels, 89. 

Obs. — Doves, in the Word, signify the 
goods and truths of faith, A. 0., 1826. 

Eagles (The) which are seen in the 
world of spirits are manifestations of the 
affections of spirits, 89. 

Obs. — In the Word, eagles signify man's 
rational principle, A. C, 3901. 

Ear (The). Sound is the principal 
cause of hearing, and the ear is the in- 
strumental cause of it, 26. The ear per- 
ceives sounds, whether they are words or 
tones of music, from the place whence 
they proceed, as if it were there, though 
the sounds enter in from without, and are 



ALPHABETICAL AND ANALYTICAL INDEX. 



193 



perceived in the ear by the understanding 
within, 45. 

Eauth. There is earth in the heavens, 
as in the world of nature, though its pro- 
ductions are not from seed sown, but from 
created seed, 99. 

Effect. All the several and most 
minute objects belonging to nature are 
effects produced from a cause, which is 
prior, interior, and superior to it, and pro- 
ceeding immediately from God, 94. The 
effect is called the ultimate end, because 
the principal end produces it by interme- 
diate ends, and is everything in them, 77. 
(See Ends.) The effect, or ultimate end, 
is the use foreseen, provided, and produced 
by the will's love, through the understand- 
ing, 77. If the cause is separated from 
the effect, the effect perishes, 85. N othing 
exists from the elt'ect that is not in the 
cause, 95. Where the cause of an effect 
is, there also is to be found the cause of an 
efficient effect; for every effect becomes 
an efficient cause in successive order, 
until it reaches the ultimate, where the 
effective force stops, 94. See Cause. 

Effort is derived from a spiritual 
principle, 94. This conatus or effort is in 
first principles and in last, in the spiritual 
world, and thence in the natural, 96. 

Eggs. Particular signs observable in 
eggs, 87. 

Elephants (The) which appear in the 
world of spirits are manifestations of the 
affections of spirits there, 89. 

Eminence and opulence specially belong 
to the natural man, 76. When eminence 
and opulence do not lead astray, they pro- 
ceed from God ; but when they do so, they 
are derived from hell, 76. Eminence and 
opulence may be blessings, and they may 
also be curses, 77. If eminence and opu- 
lence are ends, they are curses ; but if 
they are means, they are blessings, 76. 
In heaven eminence originates in wisdom, 
81. The eminence and opulence of the 
angels of heaven described, 82. 

Ends (The), the means, or causes, and 
the effect, are also called the principal 
end, the intermediate ends, and the ulti- 
mate end, 77. The principal end is man's 
will's love, the intermediate ends are sub- 
ordinate loves, and the ultimate end is the 
will's love, existing, as it were, in its own 
effigy, 77. '1 he ultimate end, to which the^ 
principal end progresses through the 
means, is the existing end, and this end 
is use, 78. The end loves the means, 
when it performs this use ; and if they 
do not perform it, it does not love them, 
78. 

Obs. — The End is the object proposed, 
and the Means are the things which 
. are used to obtain this object. 

Enlightened (To be). Those who love 
and will truths from the Lord, are en- 
lightened when they read the Word, for 



the Lord is present in it, and speaks with 
every one according to his capacity, 75. 
Men are enlightened in various degrees, 
each according to the quality of his affec- 
tion, and his intelligence derived from it, 
75. The light of heaven is the spiritual 
principle which enlightens the natural 
man, 76. To be enlightened through 
heaven by the Lord, is to be enlightened 
through the Holy Spirit, 71. 

Enlightenment. The nature of en- 
lightenment, 71. It is effected by the . 
Lord through the Word, 71. Those who 
are in the spiritual affection of truth are 
elevated into the light of heaven to such a 
degree, that they perceive the enlighten- 
ment, 75. Enlightenment by means of tho 
forms of religion is not like that derived 
from the Word, 71. 

Enthusiasts. None but enthusiastic 
spirits speak with enthusiasts, 74. See 
Spirits. 

Equilibrium. Two forces, whilst they 
are at rest, produce an equilibrium, 45. 
Nothing can be acted upon or moved, 
unless it is in equilibrium ; and when it is 
acted upon, it is out of the equilibrium, 
45. Everything acted upon or moved 
seeks to return to an equilibrium, 45. 

Esse (The) must necessarily exist, and 
when it exists, it must proceed that it may 
produce, 17. The esse of an angel is that 
which is called his soul, the existere is 
that which is called his body, and the 
procedere from both is that which is called 
the sphere of his life, 17. Esse and exist- 
ere in , God are one, '29. The esse is in its 
existence as the soul is in its body, 21. 

Essence (The) of uses is the public good, 
112. 

Essence (The Divine) is not God, but 
yet belongs to God, 11. The essence of 
God is, that He is love itself, and wisdom 
itself— thus life itself, 27. 

Ethers are natural forces, 96. 

Evil. Evil is imputed to man because 
he is in freedom, and has the faculty of 
acting as if from himself, 47. It is better 
that a man should be constantly evil, than 
that he should be good and afterwards 
evil, 56. If man does not compel himself 
to resist evils, he continues in them, 49. 
The lot of those in the other life who are 
constantly evil, 56. 

Evil (Every; is conjoined with innume- 
rable evils, 62. Evils and hell are one, 64. 

Exist (To). All things which appear in 
the spiritual world exist immediately from 
the sun of heaven ; whereas all things 
which appear in the natural world exist 
from the same source, but by means of 
the sun of this world, 105. 

Exploration. How the exploration of 
each is effected when he comes into the 
spiritual world, 3. 

Extended (To be). Everything ex- 
tended belongs to matter, 33. 



194 



THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 



External (The) of the spirit, which 
consists in thinking and will, must not be 
compelled, 53. The external of the body- 
may be compelled, because man, never- 
theless, speaks and wills freely, 53. The 
externals must be reformed by the inter- 
nals, but not the internals by the exter- 
nals, 48. 

Eye (The) is the instrumental cause of 
sight, and light is the principal cause of 
it, 26. The eye sees objects out of itself, 
as if it were in close contact with them, 
though it is the rays of light that convey, 
with the wings of ether, the forms and 
colors of them to the eye ; these forms, 
being perceived by the internal sight, 
which is called the understanding, and 
examined in the eye, are thus distinguish- 
ed and known according to their quality, 45. 

Faculties. There are in man two fa- 
culties of life, 65. The one is called the 
understanding, the other the will, 65. 
They are altogether distinct from each 
other, but are created to form one ; and 
when they do so, they are called one 
mind, 65. 

Fallacy (A) is the inversion of order; 
it is the judgment of the eye, rather than 
of the mind ; the conclusion drawn from 
the appearance of a thing, rather than 
from its essence, 102. It is a fallacy to 
believe that man lives from himself, 26. 

Falsities, 46, 68, 73, 91. 

Fear. It is love, and not fear, which 
causes good to be good, 50. There are 
fears which compel the externals, but not 
the internals ; the reason why, 4S. There 
are, however, some fears which compel 
the internals, or spirit of man, but they 
are those only which enter by influx from 
the spiritual world, 48. 

Fields. Fields and plains appear in 
heaven, 99. 

Fire corresponds to love, and in the 
Word it signifies love, 27. 

Fishes. No one can understand the 
nature and quality of the life which the 
fishes of the sea enjoy, unless he is also 
acquainted with the nature and quality of 
their soul, 88. There is not the apex of a 
scale or fin upon any fish that is not 
formed from the life of their soul, and 
thus that is not derived from the spiritual, 
clothed with the natural, 88. 

Flowers. Lawns and beds of flowers 
appear in heaven, 99. 

Food (By), in the Word, is meant every- 
thing which nourishes the soul, 83. 

Force. There is in existence but one 
acting force, and that is the life, which is 
God, 46. There is inherent in all that is 
spiritual a plastic force, and also a propa- 
gative force, 90. There are three forces 
inherent in everything spiritual — the 
active, the creative, and the formative, 
97. The first source of all forces, which is 



the sun of heaven, is the divine love of the 
Lord ; the living force, which is life, pro- 
ceeds from it, 97. The forces inherent in 
nature from its origin, which is the sun of 
the world, are not living, but dead forces, 
97. 

Form (Human). Why everything in the 
heavens is either in the human form, or 
has reference to it, 23. Human forms, re- 
cipient of life, do not live from themselves, 
but from God, who alone is life, 25. 

Forms. There are two general forms, 
the spiritual and the natural ; the spiritual, 
such as that which belongs to animals ; 
and the natural, such as that which be- 
longs to vegetables, 96. See State and 
Form. 

Fortune. It is better that man should 
ascribe the operations of the divine pro- 
vidence to prudence and fortune, than 
that he should acknowledge them, and 
still live as a devil, 56. 

Foxes. The foxes which appear in hell 
are manifestations of the cupidities of in- 
fernal spirits, 89. 

Obs. — Foxes, in the Word, represent 
those who trust in their own prudence, 
2>. P., 811. 

Freedom makes one with life. 38. Free- 
dom is the power of thinking, of willing, of 
speaking, and of doing; chiefly it is the 
power of doing, 38. Freedom was given 
to man together with his life ; nor is it in 
any case taken from him, 38, 47. Man's 
freedom belongs to his will ; from the will 
it exists in the thought of the understand- 
ing ; and by means of the thought it 
shows itself in the speech and in the action 
of the body, 48. The freedom of man 
makes one with his proprium, and with his 
nature and disposition, 48. There is an 
infernal freedom, and there is a heavenly 
freedom, 49. The infernal freedom is that 
into which man is born from his parents, 
and the heavenly freedom is that into 
which he is reformed by the Lord, 49. 
These two kinds of freedom are opposite 
to each other, but the opposite does not 
appear, except so far as man is in the one, 
and not in the other, 49. Infernal free- 
dom is servitude ; heavenly freedom is 
real freedom, because from the Lord, 49, 
53. The freedom of thinking and willing 
good in itself is essential freedom, 64. 

Gardens. There appear in heaven pa- 
radisiacal gardens, 99. Why it is that in 
so many passages in the Word mention is 
made of gardens, groves, forests, and 
trees, 100. 
Genii, 35. 

Obs. — The most cunning sensual spirits 

are called genii; they have a deep 

bell behind, and wish to be invisible, 

D. P., 310. 

Germinations (Why) in the spiritual 

world are not constant, as in our world, 



ALPHABETICAL AND ANALYTICAL INDEX. 



195 



99. The germinations of the spiritual 
world are the productions of wisdom, 
originating in love, 66, 69. 

Globe (The Terraqueous) was created, 
that in it there might be ultimate material 
substances, in which all that is spiritual 
might terminate, and creation rest, 95. 

Goats (The) which appear in the spirit- 
ual world are manifestations of the affec- 
tions of spirits there, 89. 

Obs. — Goats, in the Word, signify those 
who are in faith separated from char- 
ity, A. C, 2830. 

God is love itself, and wisdom itself, 27. 
God is good itself, and truth itself, 25. 
God is man, 6, 19, 96. God is perfect 
man, in face and in borly like man, there 
being no difference as to form, but as to 
essence, 27. The idea of God as man is 
engrafted from heaven in every nation 
throughout the whole terrestrial globe, 
but is destroyed in Christendom, 6, 20. 
The idea of God in heaven is the Lord, 6. 
Without such an idea of God as exists in 
heaven, man cannot be saved, 6. Every 
man in the idea of his spirit sees God as 
man, even if he denies that God is man, 
20. (See Idea.) God alone is life from 
Himself, 17. There is a Trinity in God, 
and there is also a Unity, 13. God is one 
both in essence and in person, and in Him 
is a Trinity, 14. God, in whom is a 
Trinity, is One person. 14. God is the All 
of heaven ; so much so, that whether we 
speak of heaven or of God, it is the same 
thing, 5. 

Good does not exist from any other 
origin t'.ian love, 64. Good is of the same 
quality as the love, 64. When the love is 
evil, its delight is still felt as a good, al- 
though it is really an evil, 64. From good 
evil is known, and from truth falsity, 110. 

Obs.— In the writings of the Author, 
when the term good alone is mention- 
ed, spiritual good is alwa3's signified ; 
if any other good is spoken of, it is 
described as natural, civil, or moral 
good. 

Good of Love and Truth of Faith (The). 
The good of love is derived from God im- 
mediately ; but the truth of faith mediate- 
ly, 72. The good of love is that by which 
the Lord leads man ; and the truth of 
faith is that by which man is led, 72. God 
conjoins himself to man by means of the 
truth of love; and man conjoins himself to 
God by means of the truth of faith, 72. 

Governors. In the societies of heaven 
there are superior and inferior governors, 
82. 

Grand Man (The). The universal an- 
gelic heaven is, in its complex, before the 
Lord, as one man, and may be called the 
Grand Man, 20. 

Greece. The gods of Greece, 22. 

Groves. There appear groves, fields, 
and plains in heaven, 99. 



Habitation. Man's real habitation is 
in the spiritual world; for he is to live 
there to eternity, after he has lived a few 
years in the natural world, 4. 

Hearing has lor its principal cause 
sound, and for its instrumental, the ear, 
26. See Ear. 

Heart and Lungs (The) are the two 
sources of man's bodily life, 66. 

Heat (The) of the spiritual sun is the 
divine love proceeding, which is called the 
divine good, 27. This heat is the good of 
love, 3. The heat proceeding from the 
sun of the world is not material ; it is na- 
tural, 33. The heat only changes the 
state of the substances into which it flows, 
35, 33. The light and heat in the heavens, 
98. 

Heathen. Most of the heathen per- 
ceive God as a man, 73, 16. The heathen 
sees from his religion the truths which he 
is to believe, 73. The heathen is saved 
in his religion, as the Christian is in his, 
72. 

Heathenism of the Christian world, 22. 

Obs. — The heathenism of the Christian 
world exists in that part of Christen- 
dom where the Word is taken away 
from the people and replaced by 
human decisions. See Church, obs. 

Heaven (The universal angelic) is the 
divine proceeding of the Lord, 20. Thi3 
heaven is in its complex before the Lord 
as one man, and may be called the Grand 
Man, 20. The universal heaven is arranged 
generally, specially, and particularly, into 
societies, according to all the varieties of 
affection derived from love, 3. Heaven 
does not consist of angels, created such at 
once, but of men born in the world, who 
were there made angels by the Lord, 41. 
See 42. There are three heavens and three 
hells, 110. The whole heaven is full of 
uses, 112. 

Heaven. Angels, in proportion as they 
are recipients of divine truth and divine 
good, are heavens generally, as well as 
heavens individually, 111. There is not 
belonging to any angel anything which 
forms heaven in him, except the divine 
proceeding from the Lord, 111. 

Hell. Of whom hell consists, 41. Hell 
does not consist of spirits, created such at 
once, but of men born in the world, who 
were made devils or satans by themselves, 
41. (See 42.) The diabolical hell is the 
love of self, and the satanical hell is the 
love of the world, 42. Hell is arranged 
into societies, according to the lusts of the 
love of evil opposed to the affections of the 
love of good, 3. Why, in the Word, hell 
is called death, and its inhabitants are 
called dead, 42. By what means man is 
brought out of hell, and conducted into 
heaven by the Lord, 60. The hells are 
at this day, more than at any former 
period, filled with men who worship 



196 



THE ATBANASIAN CREED. 



nature, 107. Those who perform no use I 
are banished to the hells, 112. 

Heretics. None but heretical spirits [ 
speak with heretics, 74. See Spirits. | 

Horses (The) which appear in the spirit- 
ual world are manifestations of the affec- 
tions of spirits there, 89. 

Obs. — In the Word, the horse signifies 
the intellectual principle, A. C, 2781. 

Human Principle (The) of the Lord is 
divine, by virtue of the divine principle 
which was in Him from conception, 15. 

Idea. In the thought of man there are 
two ideas — one abstract, which is spiritual, 
and one not abstract, which is natural, 27. 
What the spiritual and what the natural 
idea concerning the life which is God is, 
27. Man is in the idea of his spirit when 
he thinks abstractedly, and in the idea of 
his body when he does not think abstract- 
edly, 20. The idea of God as man is 
engrafted from heaven in every nation 
throughout the whole terrestrial globe ; but 
it is destroyed in Christendom, 6. Why 
this idea is lost in Christendom, 19. From 
the idea of God as man, implanted in every 
one, several peoples and nations have 
worshipped as gods either men or those 
who appeared to them as men, 22. From 
this implanted principle saints are at this 
day worshipped as gods in Christendom, 
22. An idea from the thought of one God 
primarily opens heaven to man ; and, on 
the other hand, an idea of three Gods 
closes it, 10. 

Idleness. A life originating in the love 
of idleness is a life of self-love, and of the 
love of the world ; and hence it is a merely 
natural life, which does not keep the 
thoughts of man together, but scatters 
them upon every vanity, by this means 
turning him away from the delights of 
wisdom, and plunging him into those of the 
mere body and the world, with which evils 
are in close connection, 112. 

Idleness. Heavenly joy does not con- 
sist in idleness ; he who believes so is much 
deceived, 84. 

Idle Person (No) is tolerated even in 
hell, every one is obliged to work, 84. 

Ignorance. The reason why man is 
born into mere ignorance, 91. 

Image. Men are images of God from the 
reception of truth, 2?.. See Likenesses. 

Implanted, 21 . The idea of God as man 
is implanted in every one, 22. 

Obs. — That is said to be implanted 
which proceeds from a general influx, 
A. E., 955. General influx is the con- 
tinual tendency {conatus) from the 
Lord through the universal heaven, 
into every single thing of man's life, 
A. C, 6211. 

Impute (To). The reason that evil is 
imputed to man, 47. 

Infant. The man who dies an infant 



is led by the Lord and brought up by the 
angels, 72. 

Infinite (The). No ratio is given be- 
tween the infinite and the finite, 24. There 
is a natural as well as a spiritual idea of 
what is infinite, 33. What the natural 
idea of the infinite God is, 33. 

Influx. The Lord enters by influx into 
the interiors of man's mind, and through 
them into his exteriors, and not vice versa, 
67 ; into the affection also of his will, and 
through it into the thought of his under- 
standing, and not vice versa, 67. Man 
knows nothing whatever of the influx 
which enters into the interiors of his mind, 
nor of that which enters into the affection 
of his will, 67. How the Lord enters by 
influx into man, and leads him, 68. 
Divine order of influx, 71. Influx of life 
into man, 47. The five sensories of the 
body, by virtue of an influx from within, 
are sensible of the impressions which enter 
by influx from without; the influx from 
within is from the spiritual world, but the 
influx from without is from the natural, 
45. Influx is spiritual, and not physical ; 
that is, it is from the soul, which is spiri- 
tual, into the body, which is natural, and 
from the spiritual world into the natural, 
102. 

Inmost. The life which is man's inmost 
principle is perpetually derived from the 
Lord's presence with man, 47. 

Insects (Noxious) were not created from 
the beginning, but had their origin with 
hell, 90. 

Instinct of animals, 86. It is some 
spiritual principle which leads them, and 
is in union with the natural, 87. 

Instrumental (That is called) which 
suffers itself to be acted upon, and that is 
called principal which acts, 26. 

Intellectual Faculty. The Lord, from 
the intellectual faculty which every man 
possesses, and from its opposite, is present 
in those who are out of the Church, who are 
in hell, or will come into hell, and knows 
their whole state, 104. 

Intercourse with Spirits (Why) was 
forbidden to the children of Israel on pain 
of death, 74. 

Intermediate. All that is intermediate 
from the first principle co- exists in the 
ultimate, 95. 

Intermediate State. Man lives in an 
intermediate state between heaven and 
hell, 47. 

Internal (The) enters by influx into the 
external, but not the external into the 
internal, 48. The internal producing prin- 
ciple is with its own produce in all its 
collective and several parts, 86. The 
internals belong to man's spirit, the ex- 
ternals to his body, 48. 

Italy (Gods of), 22. 

Jah. God is called Jah from esse, 94. 



ALPHABETICAL AND ANALYTICAL INDEX. 



197 



Jehovah. God is called Jehovah from ' 
esse and existere in himself, 94. 

Joy (Heavenly) is according to uses and 
the love of them, and is derived from no 
other source. 84. He who believes that 
heavenly joy is conferred in a state of 
idleness is much deceived. 34. 

Judgment (The last) is accomplished, 
lest man should he for ever expecting it to 
take place in his own world 75. 

Juno. 22. 

Jupiter. 22. 

- 

Kids (The) which are seen in the spiri- 
tual world are manifestations of the affec- 
tions of spirits there, S9. 

Obis.— A kid, in the Word, signifies the 
innocence of the external man, A.C., 
3519. 

Kingdom (Animal), 86—91. Vegetable 
kingdom, 92 — 101. Mineral kingdom, 96. 

Kingdom of God ( The) in the Word 
signifies the Lord and his Church, 83. 

Kingdom (The Mineral) is merely the 
storehouse in which are contained, and 
from which are taken, the substances which 
compose the forms of the animal and 
vegetable kingdoms. 96. As a general 
principle, one kingdom of nature was 
created for the sake" of another: the mine- 
ral for the sake of the vegetable, &c. 112. 

Kites (The) which appear in the world 
of spirits are manifestations of the affec- 
tions of spirits there. 59. 

Knowledge. To love knowledge is to 
love acquaintance with goodness and truth 
for the sake of real uses. SI. See Uses. 

Known (To be). From heaven is known 
everything that exists in hell ; from good 
evil is known, and from truth falsity, 110. 

Koran (The). The Mahometan, after 
evils are removed, sees truths from the < 
Koran, 73. 

Lambs (The) which are seen in heaven I 
are manifestations of the affections of 
angels, S9. 

Obs. — In the Word, the lamb signifies 
the inmost good of innocence. A. C, 
10182. 

Laws (The) inscribed on the nature of 
all things, 45. The laws of order which 
are called the laws of the divine pro- , 
vidence. 37. The Lord can lead man to j 
heaven only by these laws. 33. 

Laws of Permission (The), which are 
numerous, proceed from the laws of provi- j 
dence, 56. 

Led (To be). How man is led from one 
affection to another by the Lord, 63. Why j 
the Lord leads man by the affections and 
not by the thoughts, 69. The Lord leads 
those who love and will truths from Him- 
self. 75. 

Leopards (The) which appear in the 
world of spirits are manifestations of the 
affections of spirits there, 39. 



Obs. — Leopards, in the Word, represent 
those who confirm falses from the 
Word. C. L.. 73. 

Life. That which proceeds from the 
sun of the spiritual world is called fife, 95- 
God alone is life from himself; an angel 
is not life from himself, but a recipient~of 
life, 17. 'The reason why it appears as if 
life were in man, 26. Without an idea of 
what life is, there is no intelligence of what 
God is. 27. Life cannot be created, al- 
though it can create, 29. All things derive 
their being from the life itself, which is 
God, and which is man, 30. Man feels and 
perceives as if life were inherent in him, 
because the life of the Lord in him is 
as the light and heat of the sun in a 
subject, 39. The life of the will or love 
corresponds to the life of the heart, and 
the life of the understanding or wisdom 
corresponds io .hat of his lungs, 66. Life 
from its first source, which is the sun of 
heaven, or the Lord, is perpetually in the 
effort of forming a likeness and image of 
itself, that is man, and out of man an 
angel, 109. Tbe animal form is the essen- 
tial form of life, 109. There is life in all 
the several and most minute parts of man ; 
the part, or even the particle, in which 
there is no life becomes dead, and is dis- 
persed. 109. Every man has three degrees 
of life — the lowest is common to him with 
the beasts, but the two higher are not so, 
110. It is by means of these two higher 
degrees that man is man ; they are closed 
wifh the wicked, but are open with the 
good. 110. The reason that every man is 
not intelligent and wise is, that he who 
is not so, had by means of his fife closed 
in his case the receptacle of heavenlv love. 
110. 

Light (The) of the spiritual suu is the 
divine wisdom proceeding which is called 
the divine truth, 27. This fight is the 
truth of faith, 3. The light proceeding 
from the sun in the world is not material, 
33. Light only modifies the substances 
into which it enters. 35, 33. 

Light and heat. The light of the spiri- 
tual sun is divine truth, and the heat is the 
divine good, 3, 17, 27. The light and heat 
of the spiritual sun are the light and heat 
of life, 37. The light is the truth of faith, 
and the heat is the good of love, 3. Light 
and heat in the heavens, 93. 

Likenesses. Men are likenesses of God 
from the reception of good, 25. See 
Image. 

Lions (The) lions which appear in the 
world of spirits are manifestations of the 
affections of spirits there, 39. 

Obs. — Lions, iu the Word, signify those 
who have power bv means of truth 
from good, A. <?., 6369. 

Lord (The) is divine love, and in heaven 
before the angels He appears as a sun, 3, 
27. The Lord's love with man is as fire 



198 



THE ATHANASIAN" CREED. 



from that Sun, 3. In Him is the threefold 
principle of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, 
13. The three divine principles called by 
the names of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, 
are in the Lord one in essence and in 
person, 14. He is the life itself, 24. He 
is the only man, 24. He wills that man 
should speak and will, and thence act, as 
if from himself, 26. He dwells with man 
in that which is his own, that which he 
gave him for the sake of this end, that he 
may be reciprocally loved, 38. The Lord 
is omnipresent and omniscient in all the 
several and most minute things belonging 
to the angels of heaven and to the men of 
the Church, 109. The Lord is also present 
with those who are out of the Church, — 
who are in hell, or will come into hell,— 
and knows their whole state, 110. 

Obs. — By the Lord, in the writings of the 
Author, is meant only the Saviour of 
the world, Jesus Christ, A. C, 14. He 
is the one and only God of heaven and 
earth. In him is the divine trinity, 
namely, the very divine, which is called 
the Father ; the divine human, which is 
called the Son ; and the divine proceed- 
ing, which is called the Holy Spirit, A. 
<?., 10822. 
Lot (The) of those who are guilty of pro- 
fanation in the other life, 55. The lot of 
those who are constantly evil, 56. Differ- 
ence between them, 55, 56. 

Love is spiritual conjunction, 8. Love is 
the life of man, for man is of the same quali- 
ty as his love, 48. Man's love is compara- 
tively as fire, and his thoughts are as the 
rays of light derived from it, 3. All love 
corresponds to fire, and in the spiritual 
world it is so presented as to seem like fire 
at a distance, 42 The divine love cannot 
be conceived of in its essence, but may be in 
its appearance, 27. The divine love consists 
in this, that it desires that what belongs to 
itself should belong to man, 38. Heavenly 
love is love to the Lord, 42. Spiritual love 
is love towards the neighbor, 42. Self-love 
is opposed to heavenly love, which is love 
to the Lord, 42. By loving the Lord is not 
meant loving Him as a person, but the love 
of divine good and divine truth, which are 
the Lord, 8. The love of the world is op- 
posed to spiritual love, which is love to- 
wards the neighbor, 42. 

Love and Wisdom in the Lord are not 
two, but one ; the love and wisdom proceed- 
ing from the Lord as a sun appear as two 
distinct things, but both, in virtue of their 
origin from the sun of heaven, act as one, 
113. Those angels who receive the love, 
which is heat, more than the wisdom, which 
is light, are called celestial angels; and 
others who receive the wisdom, which is 
light, more than the love, which is heat, are 
called spiritual angels, 113. Comparison 
of the light and heat, or love and wisdom 
of the spiritual sun, with the light and heat 



proceeding from the natural sun, 113. All 
good originates in love, and all truth in 
wisdom, 113. The reason that the Lord's 
omnipresence refers to love and good is, 
that the Lord is present with man in the 
good which originates in his love ; and the 
reason that his omniscience refers to wis- 
dom and truth is, that by virtue of man's 
good, which originates in his love, he is 
omnipresent in the truths of his under- 
standing ; and this omnipresence is called 
omniscience, 113. The case is the same 
with all men generally, as it is with one 
man individually, 113. 

Love and to do (To) are one in the Word ; 
where mention is made of loving, doing is 
understood, and where mention is made of 
doing, loving is also understood, 8. By 
love to the Lord is not meant loving Him as 
a person, but willing and doing what He has 
commanded, 8. 

Lucifer. Those who have exercised do- 
minion from the love of it are designated 
by this name, 79. 

Magi (Who the) formerly were who in 
Egypt and Babel, on account of their con- 
versing with spirits, and the operation of 
spirits upon them being openly felt, were 
called wise, 74. 

Magpies (The) which appear in the world 
of spirits are manifestations of the affec- 
tions of spirits, 89. 

Obs. — Magpies represent those who be- 
lieve that a thing is true because they 
have been told it by some one in au- 
thority, T. C. R., 42. 

Mahometan (The) sees from the Koran 
the truths which he ought to believe, 73. 
The Mahometan is saved in his religion as 
the Christian is in his, 72. 

Man is an organ of life, 26. He is an 
image of the Lord by means of love to him, 
3. He is a recipient of life from the Lord, 24. 
His real habitation and his native country 
are in the spiritual world, 4. The Lord is 
the only man, and all are men according 
to the reception of the divine good and 
truth from Him, 24. The Lord is the only 
man because He is the life itself, but all 
other men, because they are men from 
Him, are recipients of life, 24. The dis- 
tinction between the man who is life, and 
the man who is a recipient of life, is like 
that which subsists between the uncreate 
and that which is croated, 24. All men, as 
to the interiors which belong to their minds, 
are spirits, clothed in the world with a ma- 
terial body, 41 Man, as to his mind, is in 
the spiritual world, while with his body he 
is in the natural worll, 2. His thoughts 
diffuse themselves into societies of the 
spiritual world, 2. He is of a quality simi- 
lar to that of the societies with which he is 
conjoined, 2. Why man is led by the 
Lord by his affections rather than his 
thoughts, 69. Man is, as to his spirit, as 



ALPHABETICAL AND ANALYTICAL INDEX. 



199 



long as he lives in the world, in the midst 
of spirits, but the spirits are not aware that 
they are near man, nor is man aware that 
he is in connexion with spirits, 74. Man is 
kept in an intermediate state between 
heaven and hell, 47. Every man has im- 
planted in him the faculty of thinking 
about God, and of understanding the things 
which relate to God, 5. The worldly and 
corporeal man does not see God except 
from space, 19. Every man, in the idea of 
his spirit, sees God as man, 20. Man is led 
either by the Lord or by hell, 47. Men live 
also as men after death ; in heaven, those 
who are led by the Lord, but in hell those 
who are guided by themselves, 75. Men- 
angels and men-devils compared, 44. All 
the angels of heaven and all the men on 
earth who form the Church are as one man, 
and the Lord is the life of this man, 104. 
As there is life in all the several and most 
minute parts of man, and it is cognizant of 
their whole state, so the Lord is in all the 
several and most minute things belonging 
to the angels of heaven and to the men of 
the Church, 104. The sole cause that 
heaven and the Church are a man in the 
greatest, the less, and the least concrete or 
complex, is that God is man, and hence the 
divine proceeding, which is the divine prin- 
ciple from him, is similar in everything least 
and greatest, that is man, 108. Because the 
angels are only recipients, and the divine 
principle in them forms the angelic prin- 
ciple and heaven, it is evident that the 
Lord is the life of this man, that is, of 
heaven and the Church, 108. As each so- 
ciety in heaven is, in the sight of the Lord, 
like one man, an angel in the similarity of 
its affection, so each society in hell is, in 
the sight of the Lord, like one man, a devil 
in the similarity of its evil affection, 110. 

Man (The Grand). The universal an- 
gelic heaven is in its complex before the 
Lord as one man, who may be called the 
Grand Man, 20. 

Marriage. By ma; riage, in the Word, is 
meant conjunction with some society in 
heaven, 8. 

Material things are in themselves fixed, 
stated, and measurable, 105. Pure fire, 
through which all things exist mediately 
in the natural world, is material, 105. Af- 
ter death, man is not at all aware that he 
has put off his material covering, and mi- 
grated from the world of his body into 
that of his spirit, 105. He is not aware 
that the objects which are seen and felt 
there are not material, but substantial, 
from a spiritual origin, 105. 

Matter. Everything extended belongs 
to matter, 33. 

•Means. See End. The Lord teaches 
man truths by means derived from the 
Word, from preaching, and reading, &c, 
67. The Lord teaches no man without the 
use of means, 70. 



Men-angels and Men-devils, 44. 
Mercury, 22. 

Mercy Seat (The) above the ark is the 
Lord, 72. 

Mice were not created in the beginning, 
they originated with hell, 90. The mice 
which appear in hell are manifestations of 
the cupidities of infernal spirits, S9, 90. 
Milcolm, 22. 

Mind. In man the two faculties of life, 
understanding and will, when they form 
one, are called one mind, 65. Man has a 
spiritual mind, and at the same time a 
natural mind ; his spiritual mind is above 
his natural mind, 91. Man, as to his mind, 
is in the spiritual world, 2. The mind, 
which is spirit, acts, and the body, which 
is matter, is acted upon, 41. Whatever 
has been once impressed upon the mind of 
man by means of love cannot be extir- 
pated, 55. 

Obs. — In the writings of the Author we 
meet with four expressions apparently 
synonymous, but which are, however, 
perfectly distinct from each other, i. e., 
spiritus, anima, mens, and animus. 
Spiritus (the spirit, properly so call- 
ed), organized in a perfectly human 
form, and spiritually visible and tangi- 
ble, contains within it the anima, 
mens, and animus. The anima (the 
soul) is the very inmost of the spirit ; it 
is from it that the spirit is and lives, for 
it is the very essence of its life. The 
mens (mind) is the internal man, with- 
in which is the soul, or inmost man ; 
and it is also the external man within 
which is the internal man, for there are 
two minds, the one internal and the 
other external, because there is in man 
an internal will and an external will, 
an internal understanding and an ex- 
ternal understanding ; the internal 
will and understanding constitute the 
internal man or internal mind, and the 
external will and understanding con- 
stitute the external man or external 
mind. The animus is a still more ex- 
ternal or exterior mind, formed by the 
affections and dispositions, which re- 
sult chiefly from education, society, 
and custom (see Animus, obs.); it 
contains within it these two minds and 
the soul. In this world the spirit, or 
man-spirit, is clothed with a terrestrial 
body which renders it invisible, but 
when freed from this body by natural 
death, the man-spirit eaters the world 
of spirits with his spiritual body, and 
is then called a spirit. 
Minerals. Their vegetation, 96. 
Minerva, 22. 

Mines. Vegetation of minerals in mines 
wherever an aperture is found, 96. 

Miracles (By) the externals of man's 
spirit, which consists in thinking and will- 
ing, is compelled, 53. If man could have 



200 



THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 



been reformed by miracles and visions, 
then all men throughout the whole world 
would be so, 53. Miracles close the path 
to man's reformation, for they persuade 
and compel belief, and thus bind and im- 
prison the thoughts, 53. Whom those who 
wish for miracles resemble, 54. 

Modification. In what the modification 
of created things consists, 94. 

Moloch, 22. 

Moravians. None but Moravian spirits 
operate upon Moravians, T4. 

Moved (To be). Everything acted upon, 
or moved, seeks to return to an equilibrium, 
45. 

Nails (The) are of the number of ulti- 
mates, which the spiritual principle pro- 
duces in the human body, the life, which is 
from the soul, terminating in them, 100. 

Obs. — Nails, in the Word, signify the ul- 
timate of the natural or sensual, A. C, 
7729. 

Natural. Everything which proceeds 
from the sun, which is pure fire, is called 
natural, 85. (See Sun.) That which is 
natural from its origin has no life in itself, 
85. 

Nature, 95. That which proceeds from 
the sun of the world, which is pure fire, is 
called nature, 95. Nature derives its be- 
ginning from the sun of the world, 95. Na- 
ture in itself is dead, having been created 
in order that that which is spiritual may 
be clothed from it with forms to serve for 
use, 95. Nothing in nature exists but from 
a spiritual origin, and by means of it, 94. 
There neither is nor can be in nature any- 
thing whatever in which there is not a 
spiritual principle, 85. There is a union of 
spiritual and natural things in all the col- 
lective and several subjects and objects of 
the three kingdoms of nature, 86. Nature 
does not produce anything from itself, but 
merely ministers to the spiritual principle 
proceeding from the sun of heaven, which 
is the Lord, 102. Those who ascribe to na- 
ture the generations of animals, and the 
productions of vegetables, are like those 
who ascribe magnificent and splendid 
works to the tool, rather than to the artist, 
102. Nature has nothing to do with life, 
but that life may be clothed from it, and 
come forth presenting itself to view in form 
as an animated being, 87. If space and 
time are not removed from the ideas, when 
thinking of the divine attributes, no other 
thought can be formed than that nature is 
everything — that it is self-existent, that life 
is derived from it, that its inmost principle 
is that which is called God, and that all 
besides it is imaginary, 107. The hells are 
at this day, more than at any former pe- 
riod, filled with men who worship nature, 
107. 

Naturalism arises from thinking of di- 
vine subjects from the properties of na- 



f ture, which are matter, space, and time, 
107. At the present day naturalism has al- 
most deluged the Church, 107. 

Naturalists. Their fate in the other 
world, 107. 

Neighbor (The) is that property from 
which every one is man, that is his spirit- 
ual nature, S3. Use, in the spiritual sense, 
is our neighbor, 83. (See Uses.) Toper- 
form uses is to love our neighbor, 84. 
No one can be kept by the Lord in the 
love of his neighbor, unless he is in some 
degree of love for the public good, 112. 

Neptune, 22. 

Nostrils. The volatile particles in the 
air are the principal cau&es of smell, and 
the nostrils are the instrumental causes, 
26. The nostrils perceive from within 
what enters in from without, sometimes at 
a great distance, 45. 

Nothing. From nothing, nothing origi- 
nates, 29. 

Omnipotence (The divine), in all indi- 
vidual things, regards what is eternal, 62. 
Stupendous testimonies to the divine omni- 
potence, 34. 

Omnipresence of God, 103—113. It is 
acknowledged in every form of religion, 

103. Belief in the omnipresence of God 
is derived from an influx from the spiritu- 
al world, with those who are possessed of 
religion, 103. The Lord's omnipresence 
proceeds principally from the divine love, 

104. It is better that the simple-minded 
should not think of the divine omnipre- 
sence and omniscience from any reasoning 
of the understanding, but simply believe 
them from a principle of religion, 107. 
The reason why the Lord's omnipresence 
refers to good and love, 113. 

Omniscience (The) of God, 103—113. 
It is acknowledged in every form of reli- 
gion, 103. Belief in the omniscience of 
God is derived from an influx from the 
spiritual world, with those who are pos- 
sessed of religion, 103. Spaces and times 
must be removed from the ideas, in order 
that the divine omniscience of things pre- 
sent and future may be understood, 104. 
The Lord's omniscience proceeds princi- 
pally from the divine wisdom, 104. The 
reason why the Lord's omniscience refers 
to wisdom and truth, 113. 

Omniscience (The divine), in all indi- 
vidual things, regards what is eternal, 
62. 

Operation (The) of the Lord is upon 
man's love, and from it upon his under- 
standing, and not vice versa, 51, 66. Ihe 
reason why, 51. 

Opulence affects principally the minds 
(animi) of men, 76. Opulence and emi- 
nence specially belong to the natural man, 
76. In heaven opulence originates in 
knowledge, 81. See JSminenee. 
1 Order (Divine). Its manifestations in 



ALPHABETICAL AND ANALYTICAL INDEX. 



201 



the spiritual world, and in the natural 
world, 31. The laws of order, 37. 

Organ. Man is an organ of life, 26. 
Production of the diverse organs of sense 
and motion ; also of nutrition and propa- 
gation, 96. 

Origin of animals and of vegetables, 100. 
Origin of the love of self and of the world, 
43. The life itself, which is God, is with- 
out origin, 32. 

Owls (The) which appear in hell are 
manifestations of the cupidities and falses 
of infernal spirits, 89. 

Obs. — Owls, in the Word, signify gross 
falsities, A. C, 866. 

Oxen (The) which appear in the spiritu- 
al world are manifestations of the affec- 
tions of spirits, S9. 

Obs. — Oxen, in the "Word, signify the 
good of the natural principle, A. C, 
5198. 

Palaces in heaven, their description, 
82. 

Parallel between the animal and vege- 
table kingdoms, 92. 

Pareot. If that which is not intelligi- 
ble is to be believed, man might have been 
taught like a parrot, 9. 

Particulars. The divine providence 
is in the most minute particulars of man's 
life, 68, 70. It operates upon the most 
minute particulars of man's thought and 
will, 51, 71. See 36. 

Peacocks (The) which appear in the 
world of spirits are manifestations of the 
affections of spirits there, S9. 

Perception, 33, and elsewhere. 

Ob*. — Perception is an internal sensa- 
tion, relative to the good and the true, 
coming only from the Lord, A. C, 
104. Perception consists in seeing 
that the true is true, that the good is 
good; and in seeing that the evil is 
evil, and the false is false, A. C, 7680. 

Peetods of time resemble spaces ; for 
progressions through spaces are also pro- 
gressions through periods of time, 106. 
Periods of time are varied according to 
the states of affections, and of the thoughts 
derived from them, 106. 

Permission. It was of divine permis- 
sion that the doctrine concerning God and 
the Lord was so conceived by Athana- 
sius, 16. Permission of evil, its source, 
37, 55. 

PERMtssroN (Why) is granted to treat of 
the subjects which relate to God from spi- 
ritual light, and from a rational sight de- 
rived from it, 103. 

Person. Why it was permitted of di- 
vine providence that Athanasius should 
make use of the word person in his creed, 



16. 



Phantasy, 42, 43, 55. 
Obs. — Phantasy is an appearance of 
perception ; it consists in seeing what 



is true as false, and what is good as 
evil ; and in seeing evil as good, and 
the false as true, A. 6'., 7630. 

Pleasure and life are one, 38. 

Pluto, 22. 

Pope (Adoration of the), 22. 

Power. Man has no power of himself, 
nor yet any angel, 35. Man has power, as 
if from himself/to receive both good and 
evil, 47. The Lord also gives him power 
to know that all good is from Him, and 
all evil from the devil, 47. 

Peay (To). Why men pray to the Lord 
to hear them, to look upon them, and to 
have mercy upon them. 103. 

Principal. That is called principal 
which acts, and that instrumental which 
suffers itself to be acted upon, 26. 

Proceeding (The Divine). There is not 
belonging to any angel any thing which 
forms heaven in him, nor any thing be- 
longing to any man which forms the 
Church in him, except the Divine proceed- 
ing from the Lord. 111. 

Peoductions are continuations of crea- 
tion, 97. Productions from our earth are 
derived from that which is spiritual, 
through nature as a medium, while those 
on the earth in the heavens are formed 
without nature's assistance, 99. 

Profanation. The fate in another life 
of those who are guilty of profanation. 55. 
Why it is so dreadful, 55. There are seve- 
ral kinds of profanation, 55. 

Profane (To) holy things. What it is, 
55. 

Proprium (The) of man is distinguished 
from that which is not so in the spiritual 
world, 65. The proprium resides in the 
interiors ; but that which is not so in the 
exteriors, the former being veiled and con- 
cealed by the latter, 65. 

Obs. —The proprium of man is to love 
himself rather than God. and to love 
the world rather than heaven, and to 
regard the neighbor as nothins in com- 
parison with himself, IT. IT., 233. 

Providence (The Divine) is continual 
and operative in the most minute parti- 
culars in man's life, 68. It moves so 
secretly that there is scarcely any vestige 
of it apparent, although it operates upon 
the most minute things of man's thought 
and will, which regard his eternal state. 51. 
The divine providence, in all individual 
things, regards what is eternal, 62. 

Prudence. It is better that man should 
ascribe the operations of the divine pro- 
vidence to prudence and fortune, than 
that he should acknowledge them, and 
still live as a devil, 36. Man from his own 
i prudence has led himself to eminence and 
opulence, when they lead astray, 76. 

Punishments do not remove the will, 
the intention, and the consequent thought 
of evil; they merely prevent the act, 61. 

Puegatoey. If that which is not intel- 



202 



THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 



ligible is to be believed, man might have 
been taught like a parrot, to say and to 
remember that man will be tormented in 
purgatory, 9. 

Pythonic Diviners (The), who they 
were formerly, 74. 

Quails (The) which appear in the world 
of spirits are manifestations of the affec- 
tions of spirits there, 89. 

Obs.— Quails, in the Word, signify natu- 
ral pleasures, A. 0., 8452. 

Quakers. None but Quaker spirits 
operate upon Quakers, 74. 

Quality (The) of life enters by influx 
from without, 46. From the end all the 
quality is derived, 63. The quality of ac- 
knowledgment is precisely according to 
the quality of the love, 39. 

Rams (The) which appear in the spirit- 
ual world are manifestations of the affec- 
tions of spirits there, 89. 

Obs. — In the Word, a ram signifies the 
interior good of innocence, A. C, 
10132. 

Ratio. There is no ratio between that 
which is infinite and that which is finite, 
24, 33 ; nor between that which is dead 
and that which is living, 33. 

Rational Principle (The), 12 and 
elsewhere. 

Obs. — The rational principle partakes of 
the spiritual, and of the natural, or it 
is a medium between the internal and 
the external, A. C, 268 ; between 
heaven and the world. 

Rationality. Reason, regarded in it- 
self, is called rationality, 37. 

Real. The objects which exist in the 
spiritual world, though not material, are 
still real, because they exist from the same 
origin, as all the objects in the natural 
world, 105. They are even more real 
than those in the natural world ; for that 
which is in nature added to the spiritual 
principle is dead, and does not produce 
reality, but diminishes it, 105. 

Rkcipient. Man is only a recipient of 
good and truth from the Lord, and of evil 
and falsity from hell, 45. A recipient of 
life cannot act from itself, but it can act 
as if from itself, 35. Every thing is re- 
ceived according to the state and form of 
the recipient, 46. 

Reciprocity. It is by means of reci- 
procity that conjunction is effected. 48, 51. 

Recreations in heaven are also uses, 
84 See Uses. 

Reformation. Operation of the Lord 
in reformation, 52. Law of order relating 
to reformation, 56. Miracles and visions 
close the path of reformation, 53. 

Reformed (The). Without the Athana- 
sian doctrine, the Reformed Church would 
not have seen the divine in the human 
principle of the Lord, 16. 



Reformed (To be). Being reformed is 
the same thing as being removed from 
evil loves, 55. Man is reformed by means 
of freedom, but not otherwise, 53. Man is 
reformed only by means of combat against 
evils, 80. 

Religion (Christian). Why the Chris- 
tian religion is divided into Churches, and 
into heresies within them, generally and 
particularly, 71. In whatever religion 
man lives he may be saved, 72, 73. Reli- 
gion, with the nations who are not within 
the boundaries of the Christian world, 
takes the place of the Word, and is partly 
derived from it, 71. These nations are 
taught by the Lord, mediately through 
their own religion, 71 . It is acknowledged 
in every form of religion that God is omni- 
present and omniscient, 103. 

Resist (To) Who those are who are 
able to resist evils as if from themselves, 
61. Man cannot of himself resist evils ; he 
can only do so from the Lord, 61. For 
man to resist the delight of his love is to 
resist himself, his own nature, and his 
own life, 61. 

Responsible. Why man is responsible, 
47. 

Revelation. No immediate revelation is 
given, but that which has been given in the 
Word, 71. Such is the nature of this reve- 
lation, that every man may be taught from 
it, according to the affections of his love 
and the thoughts of his understanding 
derived from them, 71. 

Riches (Love of), 80. 

Righteousness, in Matt. vi. 33, signifies 
spiritual, moral, and civil good, 83. 

Roman Catholics (The) separate the 
divine principle of the Lord from his 
human, 16. Without the Athanasian Creed 
they would not otherwise have acknow- 
ledged the divine principle of the Lord, 16. 

Rule (The love of), when it is the prin- 
cipal end, is the very fire of hell, 79. The 
gratification of the love of rule exceeds 
every other in the life of man ; it is con- 
tinually exhaled from hell, 80. The love 
of rule and the love of wealth universally 
prevail in the Christian world ; their true 
qualities described, So. 

Salvation (The) of man was the end of 
the creation both of heaven and earth, 36. 
The salvation of man is the all in all of the 
divine providence, 36. The Lord provides 
a universal medium of salvation, 73, 

Satan (By), in the Word, is meant the 
hell inhabited by satans, 41. Satans are 
those in whom the love of the world has 
predominated, 41. See Devil. 

Obs. — In hell, those who are in evil by 
derivation from the understanding 
dwell in front, and are called satans ; 
and those who are in evil from the will 
dwell to the back, and are called 
devils, C. L., 492. In the Word, the 



ALPHABETICAL AND ANALYTICAL INDEX. 



203 



devil means the hell which is at the 
back, and is inhabited by the very worst 
spirits, called evil genii; and satan 
denotes the hell which is in front, the 
inhabitants of which are not so malig- 
nant, and are called evil spirits, H. H 
544. 
Saturn, 22. 

Self-Love. Self-love and the love of 
the world constitute hell, -43. 

Sensation. That which produces sen- 
sation and perception in man enters by 
influx, 26. 

Sensories (The) of the body are only 
recipient and percipient, as if from them- 
selves, 45. The five sensories of the body, 
by virtue of an influx from within, are sen- 
sible of the impressions which enter by 
influx from without, 45. For each sensory, 
see 45. 

Serpents (Poisonous) were not created 
from the beginning, but originated with 
hell, 90. The serpents which appear in 
hell are manifestations of the cupidities of 
infernal spirits, 89. 

Obs. — Serpents, in the "Word, signify the 

sensual principle of man, or men who 

reason from the sensual principle, A. 

(?., 6949. Poisonous serpents represent 

those who deceitfully pervert truths to 

evil purposes, A. C, 9013. 

Sheep. (The) which appear in heaven 

are manifestations of the affections of 

angels there, S9. 

Obs. — Sheep, in the Word, signify the 
good of the will-principle, or those who 
are in that good, A. C, 10132. 
She Goats, S9. 

Obs. — The she goat, in the Word, signi- 
fies the good of truth, or the man who 
is in that good, A. 6., 4169. 
Sight has for its principal cause light, 
and for its instrumental cause the eye, 26. 
See Eye. 

Similarities. Extensions of spaces or 
distances, with the angels, are according 
to the similarities and dissimilarities of 
their state. 106. Similarity of state, con- 
tracting the extension of space or distance, 
produces conjunction; dissimilarity, in- 
creasing such extension, causes separation, 
106. 

Simple-Minded (The). It is better that 
the simple-minded should not think of the 
divine omnipresence and omniscience from 
any reasoning of the understanding, but 
simply believe them from a principle of 
religion, 107. 

Skin (The), with the cartilages and 
bones, constitutes the ultimate degree of 
life, 23. 

Slavery. The freedom of evil is slavery, 
64. 
Smell, 26. See Nostrils. 
Snow. Why the forms of the snow- 
flakes seem to emulate those of vegetable 
life, 96. 



Societies. Heaven consists of innume- 
rable societies ; and hell also, 2. Heavenly 
' societies are arranged in order, according 
to all the varieties of affections derived 
from love ; on the other hand, hell is 
arranged into societies, according to the 
lusts of the love of evil, opposed to the 
affections of the love of good, 3, 34, 46. 6S, 
69. In heaven all are known, as to their 
quality, from the societies to which they 
belong, 46. Every society of heaven is in 
a human form, 23. Every society in hell 
corresponds by contrast to every society in 
heaven, 110. 

Socinians. Unless men had accepted a 
Trinity of persons, they would at that time 
have become Arians or Socinians, and 
the Christian Church would have perished, 
16. None but Socinian spirits operate 
upon Socinians, 74. See Spirit. 

Son (To see the), John vi. 40, is to see 
the Lord with the Spirit, 23. 

Soul (The) is united with the body in all 
its collective and general parts, 86. All 
that which is essence is called soul, 94. The 
soul of beasts, regarded in itself, is 
spiritual, but not in the degree in which 
the souls of men are so, but in an inferior 
degree, 90. What the vegetable soul is, 
92, 110. 

Space. There is no space in the spiri- 
tual world, space there being only an 
appearance, derived from that which re- 
sembles it, 19. Space and time are the two 
properties of nature, 33. In the natural 
world there are spaces and times, but in 
the spiritual world they are appearances, 

105. In the natural world spaces and 
times are fixed, stated, and measurable, 

106. They must be removed from the 
ideas, in order that the omnipresence of 
the Lord with all men. and his omniscience 
of things present and future, may be un- 
derstood, 104, 106, 107. Spaces and ex- 
tensions are not such before God, 108. 

Speech. Man has the faculty of speak- 
ing because he can think rationally, 91. 
The Lord, in the Word, speaks with every 
one, according to his capacity, 75. 

Speech of spirits with man, 74. Many 
persons are under the belief that man may 
be taught by God by means of spirits 
speaking with him ; but those who believe 
this, and foster the belief in their will, are 
not aware that it is connected with danger 
to their souls, 74. Only similar spirits 
speak with man, or operate manifestly 
upon him, for manifest operation coincides 
with speech, 74. 

Sphere. That is called the sphere of the 
life of an angel, which proceeds from his 
soul and from his body, 17. Sphere of 
the affections and thoughts of man, 68. 

Spirit. Every spirit is a man, 19. 
Spirits are affections originating in love, 
and thus also thoughts, 34. The spirits of 
heaven are affections of the love of good, 



204: 



THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 



and the spirits of hell affections of the 
love of evil, 34 The spirits which are 
with man are conjoined immediately as to 
the affections of the will, and mediately 
as to the thoughts of the understanding, 
74 ; they do not know that they are with 
man, 74 ; but as soon as spirits begin to 
speak with man, they leave their own 
spiritual state and enter into man's natural 
state ; and being then aware that they 
are with mun, they conjoin themselves with 
the thoughts of his affection, and from them 
converse with him, 74. It is from this cir- 
cumstance that when a spirit speaks, he is 
in the same principles as the man with 
whom he speaks ; and further, that he calls 
them into activity, and by means of his 
affection conjoined to that of the man, 
strongly confirms them, 74. When a man 
imagines that the spirit speaking with him 
or operating upon bim is the Holy Spirit, 
the spirit also himself believes that he is 
so, 74. All spirits that speak with men 
were once men in the world, 74. The 
danger to which a man is exposed who 
speaks with spirits, or manifestly perceives 
their operation, 74. 

Spirit (The Holy) is the divine proceed- 
ing from the Lord as a sun, from whom 
heaven has its being, 71. 

Spirit (Vital), 51. 

Spiritual. That is called spiritual 
which proceeds from the sun, which is 
divine "love, 85. (See Sun.) That which 
is spiritual from its origin has life in itself, 
85. The spiritual and natural exist in 
every created object in this world, the 
spiritual as the internal, and the natural 
as the external, or the spiritual as the 
cause and the natural as the effect, 85. 
There neither is nor can be in nature any- 
thing whatever in which there is not a 
spiritual principle,, 85. The spiritual acts 
upon the natural, and by means of it 
produces its own effects, as the principal 
cause acting by means of its instrumental 
cause, 86. There is inherent in all that is 
spiritual a plastic force where there are ho- 
mogeneous exhalations in nature present, 
and there is also a propagative force, 90. 

Stags, 89. 

Obs. — The stag, in the Word, signifies 
natural affection, A. C, 6413. 

State and Form. Everything is received 
a "cording to the state and form of the re- 
cipient, 46. By state in man is meant his 
love, and by changes of state the affections 
of love ; by form in him is meant his in- 
telligence, and by variations of form his 
thoughts, 45. What the state of man from 
creation is, 47. Man lives in an interme- 
diate state, 47. 

Sun. There are two suns, the sun of the 
spiritual world and the sun of the natural 
world, 85. The sun of the spiritual world 
is the divine love of the Lord, and the sun 
of the natural world is pure fire, 85. From 



the sun, which is divine love, the whole 
work of creation began, and through the 
sun, which is fire, it was brought to com- 
pletion, 85. 

Supper (The Holy) is a symbol of the 
Lord's Church, and an assurance that those 
who believe and live according to His com- 
mandments in the Word are saved, 73. 

Sustentation is perpetual creation, as 
subsistence is perpetual existence, 102. 

Swedenborg. He testifies before the 
world that all things connected with his 
thought and will entered by influx, goods 
and truths through heaven from the Lord, 
and evils and falses from hell, and that for 
a long time he was permitted to perceive 
it, 35. He testifies that for fifteen years 
he clearly perceived that he had no thought 
or will of himself, &c, 46. He declares 
that it was given hiin to see this enlighten- 
ment, and from it to perceive distinctly 
that which proceeds from the Lord, and 
that which proceeds from the angels, and 
that, besides, he was permitted to con- 
verse with the angels as man converses 
with man, 75. 

Swine, 8). 

Obs. — Swine, in the Word, signify those 
who give themselves up to avarice, 
A. G y 1742. Swine, Matt. vii. 6, sig- 
nify those who love only worldly 
riches, A. B., 726. 

Tables of the Law. In one of these 
tables is God, in the other man, 72. How 
these two tables are conjoined in man, 72. 
These tables are found with all nations 
with whom there is any religion, 72. 

Taste. The particles turning over upon 
the tongue are the principal cause of 
taste, and the tongue is the instrumental, 
26. The sensory of taste is excited by 
means of the food which moves upon the 
tongue from without, 45. 

Teaching. The Lord teaches no man 
without the use of means, 70. 

Teeth are among the ultimates which 
are produced from the spiritual principle ; 
the life which is from the soul terminating 
in them, 100. 

Obs.— Teeth, in the Word, signify the 
sensual principle, which is the ulti- 
mate of the life of man, H. and H.. 
575. 

Temptations are not punishments, they 
are combats, 60. 

Thoughts. (See Affections.) Affections 
produce thoughts precisely as the in- 
fluences of heat in a garden produce the 
germinations of plants, by means of the 
rays of light, 69 ; thus thoughts are the 
germinations arising from the conjugal 
union of spiritual heat, or love, with the 
rays of spiritual light, or truths, 69. There 
is both an internal thought and an exter- 
nal thought, 48. There is with man 
thought from light and thought from love, 



ALPHABETICAL AND ANALYTICAL INDEX. 



205 



8. There is thought given from light con- 
cerning God, and there is thought given 
which is not from light, 9. The thought of 
the natural man cannot be separated and 
withdrawn from the idea of time, 32. The 
thought of the spiritual man, because it is 
elevated above nature, is withdrawn from 
time, 82. All the thoughts of man diffuse 
themselves into the spiritual world in 
every direction, as the rays of light are 
diffused from flame, 2. It is the spiritual 
world into which thought extends, but it 
is the natural world into which vision ex- 
tends, 2. The thoughts of man are exten- 
sions into societies either heavenly or in- 
fernal ; unless there were extensions there 
would be no thoughts, 3. The thought of 
man is like the sight of his eyes, which, 
unless it had extension out of itself, would 
be either no faculty of sight at all, or 
blindness, 3. Thoughts derived from good 
love are truths, but thoughts derived from 
evil love are falsities, 3. The first and 
primary thought which opens heaven to 
man is thought concerning God, 5, 6. 
Thought against God primarily closes 
heaven to man, 5, 6. 

Tigers (.The) which appear in hell are 
manifestations of the cupidities of infernal 
spirits, 89. 

Obs. — Tigers, in the Word, represent the 
infernal cupidities of self-love, T. C. 
#.,45. 

Time is a property of nature, not of life, 
83. To the spiritual man, instead of the 
idea of time there is the idea of the state of 
life, and instead of duration of time there is 
a state of thought, 32. Time, with its suc- 
cession, and space,with its extension, do not 
exist in the spiritual world as properties be- 
longing to it; but are there the appear- 
ances of states of life in those who dwell 
there, 100. 

Tongue (The), 26. 

Trinity. The trinity is in the Lord, 13. 
God, in whom is the trinity, is one person, 
14. The trinity in the Lord, as in one per- 
son, is the divine principle which is called 
the Father ; the divine human, which is 
called* the Son ; and the divine proceed- 
ing, which is called the Holy Spirit, 14. 
The divine trinity is the esse, the existere, 
and the procedere, 17. What sort of a 
threefold principle God had before the 
Lord assumed the human principle, and 
made it divine in the Word, 18. Why the 
Trinity of persons was inserted in the 
Athanasian Creed by divine permission, 
16. 

Truth desires to be in the light, because 
the light of heaven is divine truth, 9. 
Truths in their origin are rays of the light 
of heaven, 69. The truths of heaven and 
the Church may be seen by the understand- 
ing ; in heaven spiritually, and in the world 
rationally, 9. 

Turtle-Doves (The) which appear in 



heaven are manifestations of the affections 
of angels, 89. 

Obs. — Turtle-doves, In the Word, signify 

the goods and truths of faith, A. C., 

1826. 

Ultimate (The). There is nothing but 
has its own ultimate, in which it terminates 
and stops, 98. Intermediates co-exist in 
the ultimates from the first source to the 
ultimate, 95. The work of creation is per- 
fected in ultimates, 95. The ultimates of a 
man are what are called flesh and bones, 
18. 

Ultimates. An idea of state, and the 
consequent idea of an appearance of space 
and time, exist only in and from the ulti- 
mates of creation in heaven, which are the 
earth upon which angels dwell, 106. 

Understanding (The) is the internal 
sight, 46. The understanding truly hu- 
man is the very faculty of seeing truths, 9. 
It sees truths as clearly as the eye sees ob- 
jects, 9. It sees truths as it loves them, for 
as it loves them it is enlightened, 9. All 
the truths of the Word, which are truths of 
heaven and the Church, may be seen by 
the understanding, in heaven, spiritually, 
and in the world, rationally, 9. After 
death, man is permitted to think from his 
understanding only in accordance with the 
love of his will, 65. Man is not reformed 
in virtue of his understanding, 66. Every 
man is endowed with an understanding 
capable of elevation into the light of 
heaven : what the true state of the case is, 
103. 

Understanding and Will (The). It is 
a law of the Divine Providence, that the 
understanding and the will of man should 
not be compelled by another, 48. The 
understanding is the recipient of truth, and 
the will the recipient of good, 64. The un- 
derstanding is derived from the light of 
heaven, which, in its essence, is divine 
truth or wisdom ; and the will is derived 
from the heat of heaven, which, in its es- 
sence, is the divine good or love, 65. The 
understanding is the subject or receptacle 
of truth, and of the wisdom originating in 
it ; and the will is the subject or receptacle 
of good, and thus of love, 65. See Facul- 
ties ; see also, 65, 66. 

Union (The) of the Lord with man, and 
of man with the Lord, by means of love, 33. 
There is a union of spiritual and natural 
things in all the collective and several parts 
of the world, 86. 

Unity (The), in which is the Trinity, or 
the one God, in whom is the threefold 
principle (trinum), is not given in the di- 
vine principle which is called the Father, 
nor in the divine principle which is called 
the Holy Spirit, but in the Lord alone, 18. 

Universe (The), 34. 

Use is the subject of all affection. Man 
cannot be affected unless it is for the sake 



206 



THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 



of something, and this something is use, 
101. Everything, great as well as small, 
was created from use, in use, and for use, 
84. There are manifold uses, which may 
be divided generally into heavenly and in- 
fernal, 83. In hell, uses are performed 
from fear ; but in heaven, from love, 84. 
A man of use is a man according to his use, 
83. Use, in the spiritual sense, is our 
neighbor, 83. The reason that use is a 
man's neighbor is, that every man is valued 
and loved, not for his understanding and 
will alone, but for the uses which he per- 
forms, or is able to perform from them, 83. 
To love uses is the same thing as to love 
our neighbor, 83. When uses are loved in 
preference to self and the world, and 
acquaintance with goodness and truth is 
loved for the sake of these uses, they then 
occupy the first place, 81. The love of 
God and of the neighbor is the love of 
uses, 79. Everything that love produces 
is use, 77. (See Ends.) What is implied 
by loving uses for the sake of uses, 83. 
The whole heaven is full of uses, 112. The 
uses which the angels perform in the 
heavens, and the different kinds of work 
which the spirits do in the hells, are in 
some measure similar to those which exist 
in the world ; most of the uses are, how- 
ever, spiritual, and cannot be described in 
natural language, 112. A life originating 
in the love of use is a divine spiritual life ; 
and, therefore, every man who loves good 
use, and from the love of it performs it, is 
loved by the Lord, and received with joy 
by the angels in heaven, 112. Those who 
perform no use, are banished to the hells, 
112. Since all things, collective and seve- 
ral, were, at the beginning, created in the 
world for use, and all things also in man 
were formed for use, and the Lord from 
creation regarded as one man the whole 
human race, each member of which is in a 
similar manner designed for use, or is use ; 
and since the Lord himself is the life of this 
man, — it is plain that the universe was so 
created that the Lord is in first principles 
and in ultimates— in the centre also and 
in the circumferences — that is. in the midst 
of all things, and that all things in which 
He is are uses. From these circumstances 
also, the Lord's omnipresence and omni- 
science may be understood, 112. The uses 
which angels perform in the heavens, and 
the different kinds of work which the 
spirits do in the hells, are in some measure 
similar to those which exist in the world, 
112. 

Variations (By) of form in man are 
meant his thoughts, 45. 

Vegetable. In every vegetable there is 
an idea, as it were, of the infinite and eter- 
nal, 92. Vegetables, and animals also, ex- 
ist from a spiritual origin, by means of 
inherent, active, creative, and formative 



forces, 98. There is use inherent in every 
vegetable— spiritual use in the spiritual 
world, and both spiritual and natural use 
in the natural world, 101. Spiritual use is 
for the various states of the mind {animus), 
and natural use for the various states of 
the body, 101. The soul of vegetables, 85, 
92-100. Concerning vegetables in heaven, 
99. Difference between the vegetables in 
the spiritual world and those in the natu- 
ral, loO. Wonders in the vegetable king- 
dom, 92. 

Vegetation of minerals and of corals, 96. 

Venus, 22. 

Vipers, 90. 

Obs. — Vipers, in the Word, represent 
malice, cunning, and imposture, A. C, 
639S. 

Visions compel the external of man's 
spirit, which consists in thinking and will- 
ing, and this external must not be con- 
strained, 53. If man could be reformed by 
visions, then all men throughout the whole 
world would be so, 53. Visions close the 
path of man's reformation, for they per- 
suade and compel belief, and thus bind 
and imprison the thoughts, 53. Whom 
those resemble who wish for visions, 54. 

Will. There is an internal and an ex- 
ternal will, 48. See Understanding and 
Will. 

Wisdom is the form of love, or love ex- 
isting in form, 65. With the angels, the 
first degree of wisdom is to see and ac- 
knowledge that no ratio is given between 
infinite and finite, 33. The divine wisdom 
of the Lord is spiritual light, 33. To love 
wisdom is to love real uses, 81. See Use. 

Wolves, 89. 

Obs. — Wolves, in the Word, represent 
those who are opposed to innocence, 
A. C, 3994. 

Word (The) is the divine principle it- 
self of the Lord on the earth, 75. The 
Lord teaches man by means derived from 
the Word, 67, 71. Those whom the Lord 
leads are enlightened when they read the 
Word, 75. There was an ancient Word in 
the ancient Church, which was afterwards 
lost, 71. From this ancient Word the re- 
ligious tenets of several nations were de- 
rived, 71. 

World (The whole), and all the collec- 
tive and several objects which it contains, 
derived their existence and still subsist 
from the Lord, the creator of the universe, 
30, 76, 85, 96, and elsewhere. 

World of Spirits (The) is intermediate 
between heaven and hell, 88. 

Obs. — The world of spirits is part of the 
spiritual world. 

World (By the Spiritual) are meant 
both heaven and hell, each being divided 
in the most orderly manner into innume- 
rable societies, according to all the varie- 
ties of affections, and the thoughts origi- 



ALPHABETICAL AND ANALYTICAL INDEX. 



207 



nating in them, 58. The spiritual world is 
prior, interior, and superior to the natural 
■world, 94. All that belongs to the spirit- 
ual world is cause, and all that belongs to 
the natural world is effect, 94. 

Worship. The divine means of worship 
are derived from the Lord through the 



Word, 79. The demoniacal means of 
worship consist in the adorations offered 
to men, living and dead ; to sepulchres, 
also, to dead bodies, and to bones, 79. 

Worship of Saints. Whence it has 
arisen, 22. Why Jupiter, Saturn, etc., were 
worshipped as gods in Greece and Italy, 22. 



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schools. It will be handsomely printed, and some copies richly bound 
for presents. 



INDEX TO THE ARCANA. Compiled by Mr. Rich, and 
published by the London Swedenborg Society. 2 large 
vols. 8vo. Price $6.00 (varying with the price of gold, 
etc.). Postage, 48 cents. 

LIFE OF EMANUEL SWEDENBORG, with some account 
of his writings. By Nathaniel Hobart. 1 vol. 12mo. 
Price 8 V cents. Postage, 16 cents. 

LIFE OF EMANUEL SWEDENBORG, together with a 
brief synopsis of his writings, both Philosophical and 
Theological. By William White. Price $1.50. 

DOCUMENTS CONCERNING THE LIFE AND CHA- 
RACTER OF EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. Collected 
by Dr. J. F. I. Tafel, of Tubingen, Germany. 1 vol. 8vo. 
Price 50 cents. Postage, 16 cents. 

LIFE OF SWEDENBORG FOR CHILDREN. By Mrs. S. 
P. Doughty. 1 vol. 8vo. Price 50 cents. Postage, 8 
cents. 



JBooks, Pamphlets, and Tracts. 



Collateral and Explanatory Works relating to the 
Doctrines of the New Church. 

THE NATURE OF SPIRIT, AND OF MAN AS A 
SPIRITUAL BEING. By Rev. Chauncey Giles. 1 vol. 
12mo. Price $1.25, postage included. 

Contents : 

The Nature of Spirit and of the Spiritual "World. — Man Essentially a 
Spiritual Being. — The Death of Man. — The Resurrection of Man. — Man 
in the World of Spirits. — The Judgment of Man. — Man's Preparation 
for his Final Home. — The State of Man in Hell. — Man in Heaven. 

THE INCARNATION, ATONEMENT, AND MEDIATION 
OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. By the same author. 
1 vol. 12mo. Price, cloth, 50 cents; paper covers, 
25 cents, postage included. 

Contents : 

The Incarnation, its Nature and Necessity. — Salvation through Suffer- 
ing, not by it. — Salvation through Christ's Death, not by it. — The Ascen- 
sion and Mediation of the Lord. 

LETTERS TO A MAN OF THE WORLD DISPOSED TO 
BELIEVE. By J. F. E. Le Boys des Guays. Translated 
from the French. 1 vol. 12mo. Price, plain, 90 cents ; 
gilt, $1.00. Postage, 16 cents. 

ESSAYS BY THEOPHILUS PARSONS, Dane Professor of 
Law at Harvard College. 12mo. 

First Series. Price 75 cents. Postage, 12 cents. 
Second " " 87 " " 16 " 

Third " " $1.00 " 16 " 

Subjects of the First Series : 

Life. — Providence. — Correspondence. — The Human Form. — Religion. 
— The New Jerusalem. 

Subjects of the Second Series : 

The Seeming and the Actual. — The Senses. — The Ministry of Sorrow. 
— The Sabbath. — The Foundation of Deity. — Death and Life. 

Subjects of the Third Series : 

He Cometh in Clouds.— Paradise.— The Sea.— The End of the Church. 



THE AUTHENTICITY OF THE GOSPELS. By Hon. P. 
W. Chandler, of Boston. 1 vol. 12mo. Price, plain, 
$1.25; full gilt, $1.50. 



Catalogue of 



AN APPEAL in behalf of the views of the eternal world and 
state, and the doctrines of faith and life held by the body 
of Christians who believe that a New Church is signified 
(in the Revelation, Chap, xxi.) by the New Jerusalem, em- 
bracing answers to all principal objections. By Rev. S. 
Noble. 1 vol. 12mo. Price $1.50. Postage, 24 cents. 

This work, commonly known as "Noble's Appeal," is the best and 
most comprehensive answer to the attacks made upon the New Church 
doctrines that has ever been written, and is well worthy the careful 
perusal of inquirers. 

THE PHENOMENA OF MODERN SPIRITUALISM. By 
Rev. W. B. Hayden. 1 vol. 12mo. Price 75 cents. 
Postage, 8 cents. 

ELEMENTS OF CHARACTER. By Mrs. Mary G. Ware. 
1 vol. 12mo. Price $1.00. Postage, 16 cents. 

THOUGHTS IN MY GARDEN. By the same author. 
Price $1.25. Postage, 12 cents. 

DEATH AND LIFE. By the same author. Price $1.00. 
Postage, 12 cents. 

OUR ETERNAL HOMES. By a Bible Student. 1 vol. 
12mo. Price $1.25. Postage, 12 cents. 

THE SYMBOLIC CHARACTER OF THE SACRED 
SCRIPTURES. By Rev. Abiel Silver. 1 vol. 12mo. 
Price $1.00. Postage, 16 cents. 

THE HOLY WORD IN ITS OWN DEFENCE. Addressed 
to Bishop Colenso. By the same author. Price $1.00. 
Postage, 16 cents. 

LIFE : ITS NATURE, VARIETIES, AND PHENOMENA. 
By Leo H. Grindon. 12mo. Price $2.25. Postage, 
24 cents. 



Books, Pamphlets, and Tracts. 



Tracts— Ohio Series. 



The Doctrines of the New 

Church. 
The Divine Trinity. 
The Lord Jesus Christ. 
The Atonement. 
The Sacred Scripture. 
Science of Correspondences. 
Apparent Truths of the Word. 
Creation and Fall of Man. 
The General Deluge. 
End of the World. 
Nature and Use of Prayer. 
Spiritual Temptations. 



13. Doctrine of Regeneration. 

14. What is True Charity ? 

15. What is True Faith? 

1 6. Meaning and Use of Baptism. 

17. The Holy Supper. 

18. What is Life ? 

19. Doctrine of the Resurrection. 

20. The Last Judgment. 

21. Origin of Angels. 

22. Heaven. 

23. Hell and its Miseries. 

24. Life and Works of Sweden- 

borg. 



Price, for the set stitched together in pamphlet form, 15 
cents ; singly, 1 cent each ; 50 cents per 100. 



Periodicals of the General Convention. 

THE NEW JERUSALEM MAGAZINE. Published at Bos- 
ton, monthly, at $3.00 per annum, payable in advance. The volume 
begins with the July number. All letters relating to the Magazine 
are to be addressed to "The Editors of the New Jerusalem Maga- 
zine, Boston, Mass." 

THE CHILDREN'S NEW CHURCH MAGAZINE. Pub- 
lished monthly at Boston, at $1.25 per annum, payable in advance. 
The volume begins with the July number. 

THE NEW JERUSALEM MESSENGER. Published at 
No. 20 Cooper Union, N. T., weekly, at $3.00 per annum, in advance. 
All letters and communications concerning it are to be addressed to 
the Editor, No. 20 Cooper Union. 



Subscriptions will also be received at the office of the 
Messenger for the "New Jerusalem Magazine," and the 
" Children's New Church Magazine." 



DIE MONATSCHRIFT DER NEUEN KIRCHE. $1.25 
yearly. Address Rev. A. O. Brickman, Box 100, Baltimore, Md. 



DOCTRINES OF THE NEW CHURCH, 

(Signified by the New Jerusalem, Rev. xxi.) 



I. 

God is One in Essence and m Person, in whom there is a distinct and 
essential Trinity of Love, Wisdom, and Power, called in the Word the 
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and the Lord Jesus Christ is this GTod, and 
the only true object of worship. 

II. 

In order to be saved, man must believe on the Lord, and strive to 
obey His Commandments, looking to Him alone for strength and assist- 
ance, and acknowledging that all life and salvation are from Him. 

III. 

The Sacred Scripture, or the Divine Word, is not only the Revelation 
of the Lord's Will and the history of His dealings with men, but also 
contains the infinite treasures of His Wisdom expressed in symbolical 
or correspondential language, and therefore, in addition to the sense of 
the letter, there is in the Word an inner or spiritual sense, which can be 
interpreted only by the law of correspondence between things natural 
and things spiritual. 

IV. 

Now is the time of Second Coming of the Lord, foretold in Matt. 
xxiv., and the establishment of the New Church signified by the New 
Jerusalem in Revelation xxi., and this Second Coming is not a visible 
appearance on earth, but a new disclosure of Divine Truth and the pro- 
mulgation of true Christian Doctrine, effected by means of the Lord's 
servant, Emanuel Swedenborg, who was specially instructed in this Doc- 
trine, arid commissioned to publish it to the world. 

V. 

Man's life in the material body is but the preparation for eternal life, 
and when the body dies, man immediately rises into the spiritual world, 
and, after preparation in an intermediate state, dwells for ever in Heaven 
or Hell, according to the character acquired during his earthly life. 

VI. 

The Spiritual World, the eternal home of men after death, is not 
remote from this world, but is in direct connection with it, and we are, 
though unconsciously, always in immediate communion with angels and 
spirits. 



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